Zaman
by Ashitheviolinist
Summary: Sakura has been thrown back to the day of her genin team assignments in order to avoid a terrible, war-torn future. Unfortunately for her, changing the future and dealing with time ripples isn't quite as easy as it seems.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay, so I know that Sakura time travel fics are often done, but I love them so much! I feel like being able to go back and change some of the aspects of the story-line with Sakura in charge is so fun. Though I have read a shit ton of Sakura time travel fics, the two that have influenced this story the most are: A Twist in Time by wolf08 and Reversing Time by havanatitiana. I highly advise that you check those two out as they are INCREDIBLE stories. Anyway, this fic will stray from cannon pretty damn quick and will be LONG.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto at all. Who do you think I am? Someone that cool? All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

She knew it was too late once she saw the blinding light coming her way. What was there left to do? Stopping those two was impossible at this point, so she only had three choices left. Let Sasuke and Naruto kill her in hopes they'd realize that their feud was meaningless, let Sasuke and Naruto kill each other, or utilize _that_ jutsu. Logically, the latter was the way to go; it involved no killing, but there was such a large margin for error, Sakura couldn't help but feel uneasy. Realizing she had hardly two seconds left before she would die, she acted on instinct. Her hands flew through the signs without even thinking, the seals on her body illuminating as the jutsu was put into action.

"You two are such idiots!" She exclaimed as she finished the final hand-sign. "Look what I had to do to fix your mistakes!"

She clenched her eyes shut, awaiting pain. If the jutsu didn't work, she would be doubly impaled by a rasengan and a chidori; if the jutsu did work, she would likely experience pain similar in caliber minus her death.

The pain hit. It felt like every cell in her body was being individually ripped to shreds, reassembled, then destroyed again. It was so blinding and so incapacitating, she couldn't even tell if she was screaming. After what felt like an eternity, the pain began to subside. She regained feeling in her limbs and quickly realized that she had survived. That meant-oh god. Sakura paled as she realized the implications of her success. After the horror she had seen in the past month, from the death of those close to her, to the horribly mutilated bodies on the battlefield, she knew facing her peers again was going to be difficult.

She sat up in her bed, scanning the room. A wave of nostalgia washed over her as she recognized the pink and red wallpaper she had as a child. As she rolled out of bed, she also realized how much smaller and weaker she was. Since her main purpose now was to alter the future and stop Sasuke, she would have to train like crazy to make up for her nearly emaciated state. She rummaged through her wardrobe, picking out the clothes she wore when she was twelve, cringing at the impracticality and childness qualities. Sighing deeply, she changed into them. Before she left the room, she remembered what important thing was happening today. She was going to be assigned a team.

 _This means that I can start off on a better foot with Sasuke!_ She realized, grinning at her epiphone. _Maybe if I don't seem like a total fangirl, he'll appreciate team seven more._

Sakura began to formulate her new plan. Step one, she decided, was her physical appearance. Since she had woken up earlier than she needed to, she took the extra time to cut her flowy pink hair and change into a more practical outfit. Feeling satisfied with her new look, she dashed out of her house, trying not to let her mother see her.

"I'm leaving now mom!" Sakura announced once she had reached the door, relishing the fact that she could address her mother in such a carefree way, "It's my first day of being a genin, remember!"

"Have a good day honey," Mebuki started before stepping into the front hallway, "Sakura your hair!" By the time she had made her exclamation, Sakura was far out the door.

* * *

Sakura took a deep breath before entering the academy. She braced herself for the tsunami of memories that would surely follow seeing her friends again. As hard as she tried to push the scenes of their grisly deaths to the back of her mind, they always found a way to resurface. Sakura was positive that seeing them as carefree children would force the memories straight to the front of her mind so she simply braced herself for impact.

"I got here before you billboard-brow!" A familiar high-pitched voice greeted her, "Looks like I get to sit next to Sasuke now!"

Sakura couldn't help but smile when she saw her best-friend/enemy standing in front of her, alive. "Are you sure Sasuke wants to be fawned over?" Sakura replied, shooting Ino a quizzical look, "We're ninja now. That means that we should act like one… Ino-pig." Sakura tagged on for good measure.

"What's wrong with you? Also why on earth did you cut your hair?"

"Long hair is impractical." Sakura stated simply. She really wanted to rekindle her friendship with the Yamanaka, but she was having a hard time acting the proper way. She felt as if she had been through hell and back, making acting like a preteen girl very difficult for her. While Sakura had been lost in thought, she had failed to notice the odd stares she had been receiving from her classmates; especially Sasuke.Sakura looked at the Uchiha and felt shivers go down her spine. Though she didn't want to admit it, the boy was still attractive to her. The longer she looked at him, the more complicated feelings raced through her body. She felt love, fear, sadness, nostalgia, and anger all in the few seconds she had been reunited with Sasuke.

"What are you staring at?" She quickly retorted, trying not to sound angry, but merely curious.

As she expected, Sasuke looked away as if nothing had happened.

"Sakura-chan!" An overtly bright voice called, "You're kinda different now, but I still think you're awesome. Wanna sit next to me?"

Sakura realized that she could improve the team seven dynamic if she acted kind to Naruto. Not to mention, the boy had become one of her best friends.

"Sure Naruto." She replied, sliding into the booth next to him. "Are you excited to find out what team you're on?"

"Hell yeah I am!" He exclaimed, "I hope we're on the same team. Then I can always protect you!"

"Thank you Naruto, but I'm perfectly capable of protecting myself. I do hope we're on the same team though!"

"You're really awesome Sakura-chan. Wanna get some ramen with me tonight?"

"I'll run it past my parents." Sakura cringed at the fact that she'd have to speak to her parents like they hadn't died in front of her eyes a few days ago.

Naruto grinned happily again and bent in to whisper something into Sakura's ear. "I hope we're not on the same team as Sasuke-teme, he seems really annoying."

Sakura did nothing but laugh. In all reality, she wasn't sure how to respond. Though it was true that she wanted to love Sasuke, the horrible crimes he had committed made her feel rather uneasy. But this wasn't the Sasuke she knew before. Sure he was still a moody, emo kid, but he wasn't a murderer yet. Sakura decided that her main goal was to make sure Sasuke was never consumed by darkness.

* * *

Sakura sat on the roof with her new genin team. This time, she was going to make a good impression with her sensei, and be sure to not come off as a fangirl.

"So before we get started, tell me about yourself. Your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, and hobbies." Kakashi-sensei instructed.

"You seem shady, you go first." Naruto gave Kakashi a suspicious look.

"Okay, my name is Kakashi. I like some things and dislike others. As for my dreams, I'd rather not tell you. I suppose I don't have any hobbies."

"You only told us your name!" Sakura and Naruto exclaimed in unison.

"You go first." Kakashi ignored the previous comment and pointed to Naruto.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen and I dislike the three minutes it takes for the ramen to cook. My hobby is playing pranks and I want to be the best Hokage ever!"

Kakashi pointed to Sakura.

"My name is Haruno Sakura. I like to read about medical ninjutsu and I like to train. I dislike… well, evil people. My goal is to save someone from succumbing to the darkness. And I suppose my hobby is trying different sweets." Sakura worried that she had said too much when Sasuke looked at her with a surprised expression.

 _The files that Iruka had on her seemed completely different._ Kakashi thought quizzically. _She was made out to be a complete fangirl with a decent amount of intelligence but nearly no shinobi skills._

"You're so awesome Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed. He whipped out a kunai and made a cut in his hand, "Can you heal this for me?"

"Naruto!" Sakura chastised, "Why did you do that? I'll heal you though, just don't do that again."

Sakura brought her hands to Naruto's, channeling soft chakra into the wound. It took far more effort than Sakura was used to, but her hands began to glow a light green as the cut on Naruto's hand stitched itself back together.

"Whoah." Naruto's eyes glimmered with awe, "That was really, freaking cool."

"Anyway," Kakashi cleared his throat, "On with the introductions."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I don't like anything and I dislike a lot of things. My dream wouldn't be called a dream because I _will_ make it a reality. I will avenge my clan and kill a certain someone."

Kakashi expected no less from the Uchiha. In fact, the two boys on the team seemed to follow Iruka's reports exactly, making Sakura stand out even more. Not to mention, her knowledge of medical ninjutsu far surpassed the capabilities of a fresh genin; the last medical prodigy had been Tsunade, and even _she_ learned medical ninjutsu at about chunin. Kakashi decided to look into Sakura's sudden improvement in skill.

"Now that we know each other, meet me at the training grounds at 6:00 A.M, sharp. You will be doing a survival test with a 66% fail rate. Remember to not eat breakfast. If you do, you'll puke."

* * *

Sakura wandered home, lost in thought. She realized that she needed to have a set of goals if she wanted to change anything for the better; that was why she was in the past anyway.

 _Saving Sasuke has to be my top priority._ She thought, nodding to herself. _If he doesn't give in to the curse of hatred, the entire war can be avoided. In order to do that though, I'll have to make sure he doesn't get branded by Orochimaru. If that somehow works out, I'll find Tsunade and have her train me further._ Sakura shuddered as she remembered the day that Tsunade threw herself in front of the barrage of in coming kunai in order to protect her and Naruto. She had told them that they were the last hopes of Konoha, and that they would have to do everything in their power to protect Konoha. Unfortunately, Sasuke attacked Naruto the following day.

Sakura wiped away the tears collecting in the corners of her eyes and kept walking towards her house. Being in the past made her remember just how much she loved Sasuke, and how much his approval meant to her. Just his surprised eyes when she mentioned her goal had sent her heart fluttering, and the blood rushing to her head. While she was deep in thought, she didn't notice the aforementioned Uchiha approach her.

"Sakura." He said, walking beside her, "You're different."

"What do you mean Sasuke?" She asked, trying to sound genuinely confused and also trying to conceal her surprise.

"You seem to possess skills you didn't have before."

Sakura racked her mind, trying to find some appropriate reason for why she would have kept her prodigious medical talents secret. "I always had the skills Sasuke, you just never cared to notice." She spat out, instantly regretting her sudden wave of anger.

Sasuke looked taken aback by her uncharacteristic behavior. "I noticed enough." He replied nonchalantly, "You're different."

"M-maybe I was just getting tired of you never acknowledging me." Sakura was regretting every word that came out of her mouth, yet she did nothing to stop the flow of probably detrimental sentences. "I know I was an annoying fangirl but-but I tried. If you had told me-just once-that you were looking into getting stronger instead and not looking for girls instead of crushing my heart and brushing me off, maybe I wouldn't have been so clingy. You know what? You're annoying Sasuke." Sakura realized how much their situations had changed.

Sasuke looked at Sakura with big, confused eyes. _What is wrong with her?_ He thought, discreetly checking for disturbances in her chakra. When he found none, he simply frowned to himself and walked away, acting aloof and unaffected.

* * *

Sakura tried to put her painful past behind her and start this new life over, using her memories to guide her, not haunt her, but she was having trouble treating her peers the way she was supposed to. Especially Sasuke. She was well aware that she still harbored feelings for him, but she couldn't shake the terrible memories of his chidori aimed at her chest, or the look of hatred in her eyes when he looked at her. Sakura shuddered and set her mind on formulating a plan for the following day.

Content with her strategy, she climbed into her sickly pink bed and fell asleep.

 _Sasuke was looking at her with deep contempt. His eyes were a deep crimson, adorned with a six-sided black star in the center. His look alone made Sakura feel as if he was uttering a string of disparaging comments though his mouth never once moved from its hateful smirk._

" _You're weak." He sneered, finally speaking, "You're weak now, and you will always be weak."_

 _Sakura wanted to break down and cry. She_ knew _she was weaker than Sasuke, but was all of her hard training really for naught? Was she still that cowering, pathetic, little girl? "I may not be as strong as you," Sakura started, trying to keep her voice steady, "but I assure you that I am not weak. I can crush boulders with my pinky and I can heal virtually any wound. Not to mention, I have something you don't."_

 _Sasuke smirked again, "Now what would that be?"_

" _I have friends! And I have bonds that make me stronger!" Sakura exclaimed confidently, "When you forsook your bonds for blind revenge, you lost the potential to be truly strong!"_

" _You still believe the crap that Konoha shoves down your throat? In order to be strong, you can not let pathetic bonds get in the way. That is why you're weak."_

" _You're wrong!" Sakura cried, smashing the ground with her foot, "You're so blinded by revenge, that you can't see how Naruto, the_ loser _has become stronger than you by fighting for the people he loves."_

 _Sasuke shot Sakura a slightly surprised look, "I don't believe you." He replied simply, sending his chidori stream right at Sakura's chest._

 _If Sakura had looked away any sooner, she wouldn't have noticed the look of regret that flashed over Sasuke's face when he thought that Sakura would be killed. The look was subtle, but Sakura knew Sasuke well. She knew what he felt._

 _Realizing that she was in a memory, Sakura waited for Kakashi to swoop in and bring her to safety like he had before, but she didn't see the telltale mop of white hair. Panic was beginning to set in when she realized that it was too late for her to dodge. The blinding blue light crackled menacingly as it came closer to her, ready to impale her. The jutsu was getting closer and closer, soon she could feel the heat, her hair was standing on end, it was mere millimeters away…_

Sakura's eyes flew open. She was twisted in the sheets of her bed, still a genin. Blinking several times, she glanced at the clock on her nightstand. It was 6:05, a perfectly decent time to wake up. Sliding off her bed, she walked into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. When she looked in the mirror, her still-round, rosy, preteen face gazed back at her, devoid of any scars or signs of suffering. Though she understood that the face gazing back at her was her own, she couldn't help but feel like she didn't fit. Though she was in the form of a young, happy happy girl who had never seen war, she was plagued by the images of war and suffering. She figured that nightmares would continue to be a regular occurance as they had been previously, but she was good at blocking them out.

Putting all of those thoughts behind her, she dressed for the day and decided to go to the training grounds before her teammates arrived and long, long before Kakashi even bothered to show up.

* * *

The training ground was empty as expected. Sakura shivered slightly in the cool morning wind and began to run laps to mitigate the cold. While she ran, she focused solely on the feeling of her muscles working to propel her forwards and the way her short hair fluttered like a flag in the wind. Once she was sufficiently warm, she began to test her strength. She could tell that her seal of one hundred healings was laying dormant in her, not taking its position in the center of her large forehead; hopefully, she would not need to call upon that seal as it would completely blow her cover.

Thankfully, she was stronger than she had been as a genin in her previous life. Her memories and expertise had remained the same, but her physical strength and chakra reserves were abysmal. Thankfully, she could kill two birds with one stone by doing vigorous physical training. Knowing that she had about thirty minutes until her teammates arrived, she stretched her muscles and polished her plan for the bell test.

It was obvious that Sasuke would be completely adverse to working with either her or Naruto. Especially after their not-so-pleasant exchange the previous day. It would take a good deal of convincing to get Sasuke to even consider going along with her plan. Naruto, on the other hand, would be gung-ho for working with Sakura but would completely refuse if he had to work with Sasuke. All in all, she would have to state an extremely convincing and moving case if she wanted to get anything done. She could also let everything play out the exact same way as they had before, but she wanted to make things better. Especially between her and Sasuke; she obviously hadn't been going to well though.

She could feel Sasuke's presence approaching the training grounds. She smiled to herself, realizing how small his chakra reserves were now compared to his in the future. He truly was so much younger. She decided that now would be a good time to apologize for their feud.

"Hey Sasuke," she started, unintentionally dropping the suffix, "I'm sorry about yesterday. I suppose I was just getting fed up. I promise I won't let my personal feelings get in the way of our team dynamic anymore since teamwork is what makes a team great. Without cooperation, teams would be nothing." Sakura tried to hint at the fact that they'd need to work together during the test and she really hoped that Sasuke would catch the drift.

"It's okay." Sasuke replied, surprising Sakura with something more than a monosyllabic grunt, "I-I suppose I was a bit harsh before." Sasuke's last sentence came out as a whisper.

Sakura's eyes lit up with happiness. _Sasuke just apologized to me!_ She thought giddily. _That means our relationship is already stronger!_ Unbeknownst to her, she would be really valuing their blossoming friendship in the not-so-far future.

 **A/N: What do you think? Please give your feedback, I'd really appreciate it!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Tada! It's chapter two! Thank you guys so much for the kind reviews, I really, really appreciate them. Since someone asked, the pairing for this is SasuSaku. You can pretty much assume that all of my stories will be SasuSaku since it's my OTP. I really hope you enjoy the chapter (sorry about the brevity) and I'll try to publish the next one as soon as possible!**

The two sat together in an almost comfortable silence until Naruto came gallivanting into the training ground.

"Hi Sakura-chan, Sasuke-teme!" He said enthusiastically, "Where's Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hmmm, going from the fact that he was close to three hours late yesterday, I can assume that he won't be much earlier." Sakura surmised, putting on the façade of someone who didn't know everything about Kakashi. "We should do some team exercises in the meantime. You know, help boost our cooperation."

"Sure Sakura-chan!" Naruto agreed happily, "As long as the teme doesn't act like such an asshole."

"Naruto." Sakura reprimanded, "Sasuke's on our team, we have to work with him."

"Naruto will just hold me back." Sasuke muttered, "I'll work with Sakura, but not the dobe."

"The entire point of being on a team together is to be able to work _with_ each other!" Sakura exclaimed, glaring at Sasuke, "We'll never be a good team if we can't get along. Now we need to put our petty differences aside and work together, goddamnit!"

Sasuke and Naruto looked taken aback at Sakura's sudden, uncharacteristic outburst.

"You're right Sakura-chan." Naruto apologized, "I'll work with the teme if you think it will boost our teamwork."

"Hn." Sasuke agreed. Well, at least Sakura thought he agreed, he tended to be rather ambiguous some times.

"Now that we've come to a consensus, we need to think about what we could possibly be doing for this test." Sakura figured that blurting out every aspect and moral of the bell test would be mighty suspicious, so she decided to just hint at it and hope her teammates caught on. "As I've been saying earlier, Konoha's strongest asset is its fierce camaraderie and powerful teams. Take the sannin for instance. They were practically unbeatable because they knew each other inside out and knew how each one of their teammates would react."

"Okay, but we hardly know anything about each other." Sasuke crossed his arms, "Especially you Sakura, what else are you hiding?"

"I thought we put that argument behind us." Sakura sighed, "Whatever, the point is, my fighting style relies heavily on close combat and chakra control. If I am going to be able to fight efficiently, I will need to get close to the enemy. I also am a healer."

"That's a contradiction." Sasuke stated, "Healers always go in the back, but you insist on being in the front. It doesn't make sense."

"When I was studying the sannin, I noticed that even though Tsunade was a healer, she was often on the front-line. Since I pretty much copied her style, I think it's appropriate for me to follow her battle strategies."

"Does that mean we're going to follow the strategies of the other two sannin?" Sasuke raised his eyebrow, "If so, how would you know which one of us corresponds with the other?"

Sakura took a deep breath. If she mentioned Orochimaru now, she might be able to warn Sasuke about his evil ways, but he may also become curious and turn to Orochimaru sooner. Stuck in a deadlock, Sakura hoped that Sasuke wouldn't turn on her. "I think you should copy Orochimaru." Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, "Mind you, I don't think you're a thing like that evil bastard. In fact, I hope no one ever goes to seek him out. I know this must sound weird, but Sasuke, promise me you'll never consider him as a sensei."

Sasuke looked at Sakura with deep confusion. She had been so strange recently, but he liked it. He liked the way she no longer obsessed over him and the way that she took her studies seriously. Out of all of the people in his graduating class, he found himself the closest to Sakura at this point. Her newly found seriousness paired with her viridity complimented his personality well; not that he'd ever admit it of course. No, he'd stay indifferent, but ask if she wanted to be his training partner. That was definitely the right course of action. But still, why on earth would she suspect him of having anything to do with the missing nin Orochimaru? "Sakura, why would I have anything to do with Orochimaru?"

"Just promise me." Sakura said seriously, gazing sternly into Sasuke's onyx eyes, "Promise me you'll never affiliate yourself with him."

Sasuke looked at Sakura uneasily, "I promise." He conceded, unsure of why Sakura seemed so afraid when she had made him promise. What did she have to do with the evil sannin?

"As for you Naruto," Sakura switched back to her jovial disposition, "I think you should copy Jiraiya. You know, we could be the next sannin!"

"Hell yeah!" Naruto grinned with the intensity of a thousand suns, "If I'm as strong as them, I'll be sure to become the Hokage! Just watch."

"Don't forget about us." Sakura reminded him, placing a hand affectionately on his shoulder, "Sasuke can be head of ANBU and I can be head of the hospital."

Sasuke frowned. He didn't care about becoming ANBU. All he needed to do was to avenge his brother and he knew he would do _anything_ to get the chance.

"Oi teme," Naruto poked Sasuke, "Whatcha brooding about? Don't you want to be ANBU?"

Sasuke scowled and turned away, crossing his arms.

"I think he's got more mood swings than girls when it's their time of the month." Naruto whispered to Sakura.

She looked at the blond exasperatedly and gave him a light knock on the head for good measure. " _You_ can't make period jokes." She pointed an accusing finger at him, "Do you know how terrible it is to bleed for an entire _week_?"

Naruto shuddered at the image and fierce glare. "Sorry Sakura-chan…" he apologized, inching away from her.

* * *

Kakashi finally showed up. He was more than two hours late and team seven had run out of ways to spend their time.

"You're late!" Sakura and Naruto exclaimed indignantly.

Kakashi rubbed his neck, "Sorry, there was a black cat in my way so-"

"Liar!" The two genin yelled again.

"Anyway," Kakashi brushed off their previous comment, "Let me explain the test."

The three genin looked at Kakashi with rapt attention, ready to face whatever challenge was thrown at them.

Kakashi held up a pair of silver bells. "This test is called the bell test. The objective is to take a bell from me. If you do not succeed, you will be sent back to the academy."

Sakura knew why there were only two bells, but she decided to ask Kakashi for good measure. "There are only two bells sensei." Sakura started, feigning worry, "Does that mean that one of us will fail for sure?"

"You're sharp." Kakashi commended the pink-haired girl, "Anyway, Sakura is correct. One of you will fail for sure. Now, you have until noon to complete the test. If you fail to get a bell within the time restraint, you will not get lunch. If you are to have the slightest chance of getting a bell, you will have to come at me with the intent to kill."

Naruto took the end of Kakashi's sentence as a signal to start, resulting in him attacking the jonin head on.

"I haven't said start yet." Kakashi sighed, poofing out of existence.

Sakura leapt back into the trees, deciding to follow her previous strategy to a point. Masking her chakra, she hid in a thick group of bushes, slowly making her way towards Sasuke. She could sense the Uchiha's chakra well from where she was; his chakra signature was so obvious, she'd have to remind him to mask it when they rendezvoused.

"Sasuke." She whispered, sliding next to him, "Remember to mask your chakra. It's too obvious. Also, once Naruto's done blowing off steam, let's attack together."

"But you heard Kakashi." Sasuke crossed his arms defiantly, "One of us is going to fail for sure. Since Naruto is the weak link, we should leave him."

"I told you this before." Sakura clenched her teeth, "Konoha's strongest asset is teamwork. Also, have you ever seen a two man team? No. The point of this test is to prove that we can work together despite the boundaries we're given."

"I don't know how you came to that conclusion, but I'll trust you." Sasuke capitulated, "If it turns out that you were wrong and we are all sent back to the academy, I'll never forgive you." Sasuke shot Sakura a serious look.

Sakura knew he wasn't lying in the least. Sasuke wouldn't be able to kill Itachi if he had to repeat academy classes. Not to mention, it would be a great disgrace to the Uchiha and himself. Keeping all of that in mind, Sakura looked sternly at Sasuke. "I understand." She assured, her eyes never leaving his, "Now that you have decided to trust me, let's find Naruto."

Naruto had finally finished attacking Kakashi and had retreated into the bushes. Unlike Sasuke, Naruto was far more willing to go with Sakura's plan.

"Okay." Sakura started, masking her chakra to the best of her abilities, "First thing's first." She looked at Sasuke, "You and Naruto will start to attack Kakashi together. I advise having Naruto make a ton of shadow clones and transform a few into Sasuke. Maybe that will throw Kakashi off slightly." Sakura knew that Kakashi wouldn't be fooled by a measly prank like that, but it sounded like a genin level strategy. "Once you have successfully preoccupied sensei, I'll sneak in and grab the bells. After I get them, I'll hand them to you two so that we all can successfully 'get the bells'."

The two boys nodded in understanding.

"Don't mess up Dobe." Sasuke hissed, running into the clearing with Naruto.

Sakura watched their fight transpire, happy that the two were at least semi-capable of working together. As she expected, Kakashi saw right through their prank and dispelled Naruto's clones in mere seconds. Now it was just the two boys trying desperately to hold their own against a jonin. Just as Sasuke and Naruto were beginning to tire out, Sakura leapt into the clearing silently. She flew past Kakashi, grabbing the bells in one swift motion and rolling gracefully onto the ground. She quickly handed the bells to her two teammates and smiled at Kakashi.

"We all got the bells sensei!" She said sweetly.

"No." Kakashi's face turned deadly, "I said that one of you would be sent back to the academy. Now I think you should choose. Perhaps Naruto because he's an idiot? Or Sasuke because he was the most reluctant to work as a team? Or maybe even Sakura because she lacks strength?"

"I do not!" Sakura exclaimed indignantly, striking the ground. The dirt around her cracked slightly. _I'm a lot weaker than I was before._ She thought, discreetly massaging her sore fist.

Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow for a split second, "Anyway who would you choose?"

"I'll go." Naruto muttered, "I know I'll just hold back the team."

"No Naruto." Sakura shook her head, "You want to become the Hokage and you can't do that if you're still in the Academy, I'll go back."

Sasuke didn't want to say anything. Why would he go back to the Academy? Out of all his teammates he was by far the strongest and he couldn't kill Itachi while still in the Academy. But Sakura _did_ insist that this test was about teamwork and though he had no real reason, he trusted her. "I'll go." He said, forcing the words through his clenched teeth.

Kakashi's face lit up. "You all pass." He stated simply, "Now our first mission is tomorrow."

Sakura sighed in relief. _That played out differently than it did last time._ She thought worriedly. _I hope I didn't change too much…_

Sasuke grabbed Sakura's wrist before she left the training ground. "That was too close." He growled, looking deep into her viridian eyes.

"Well we passed didn't we?" She matched his gaze, "Can you think of any better strategy?"

Sasuke wanted to be furious at her for putting his shinobi career on the line, but her newfound confidence made him more intrigued than mad. Unsure of what to do, he decided to walk with her.

"Don't you live in the other direction?" Sakura inquired. Of course, she wanted Sasuke to walk with her, but she would like to know why he was being so companionable.

"I have to go to the grocery store." Sasuke stated. _That was a lie._ Sasuke thought. _Sakura doesn't know that though._

Sakura knew he was lying. The quickest way to get to the grocery store, and the route that Sasuke usually used (no need to know how she knew that) was also in the opposite direction, but Sakura found no problem with playing along. "Okay! Well I have to pick up some groceries too, so we can go together."

"Hn."

Sakura frowned. She thought Sasuke had moved passed monosyllabic grunts, but she supposed she was wrong.

They walked into the cool store, both gazing at the lists they had written. Sakura stole a glance at Sasuke's list and desperately tried to stifle a giggle. _Of course it's blank. He didn't even intend to go shopping. It would have been better if he just didn't pull it out in the first place._ She thought smiling to herself.

* * *

She met Sasuke at the check-out line, giggling once more at the continents of his shopping basket. There were at least twelve tomatoes.

"Sasuke," Sakura started, "I hope your entire diet doesn't just consist on tomatoes."

Sasuke's face turned the color of the aforementioned fruit. "Of course not." He insisted, "I'm a ninja, I must have a healthy diet."

Sakura nodded, smirking slightly.

The two walked out of the store in a happy silence. Well, at least Sakura was happy, as for Sasuke, you could never really tell.

Sasuke ended up walking Sakura back to her house.

"Thanks Sasuke." Sakura shot him a sweet smile, "You really didn't have to."

Sasuke shrugged, shoved his hands in his pockets and began to walk towards the Uchiha district.

Sakura watched the Uchiha crest on his back getting smaller and smaller, infinitely thankful that he was just going home and not leaving her again.


	3. Chapter 3

Sakura spent the next few days testing her strength. Her seal had just reached full capacity before she had travelled back in time and she thankfully still had it laying dormant in her forehead with all of the chakra inside it. As much as she wanted to awaken the seal and have access to all of that chakra, she knew it would raise too much suspicion, so she'd just have to suffer with her abysmal chakra reserves until then. She wasn't disappointed with the progression of her strength, but she really wished that she had started training earlier in her life. If she had focussed on strength instead of Sasuke, she would have been on par with the boys in her first life, but alas, she could not change the past.

* * *

She made her way to the training field where she was supposed to meet Kakashi and the rest of team seven. Today, she was a good hour early so that she could warm up by herself. Once she got to the training ground, she saw a bright green blur fly through the trees, crushing branches as it went. Recognizing the viridian comet as Rock Lee, Sakura waited for him to slow down. The bushy-browed ninja finally came to a halt, allowing Sakura to run over.

"Wow!" She exclaimed, "I've never seen someone move so fast! Not to mention, it seems as if you weren't even using chakra. That's incredible!"

Lee visibly brightened, "You are a shining cherry blossom that steals my breath and pierces my heart! Your compliment has made me want to run 5,000 laps around Konoha in joy! See, I was born without the ability to harness ninjutsu, but I persisted using the power of youth and hard work!"

Sakura decided that striking a friendship with Lee would be extremely beneficial since she'd be able to train with him and receive enthusiastic compliments all the time. "I'd be so happy if we could train together." Sakura smiled brightly, "I too am a ninja, and I really want to improve my strength."

"I'd be honored to train with you, my gorgeous flower!" Lee struck a dramatic pose, "Would you like to go on a date with me?"

"I'm sorry Lee." Sakura patted the boy's shoulder, "I just really need to focus on my training right now." Of course it would be rude for her to just downright say 'you're a nice guy, but I don't really like your looks and though you're my friend, you're a bit too "youthful" to be hot', so she bent the truth a bit (or completely).

"It's okay Sakura-chan! I shall attempt to court you again in the future."

Sakura shifted uncomfortably on her feet, "O-okay Lee… Now, why don't we get to training?"

"Ah yes! Though I have already warmed up, I will warm up again with you! Since you are new to the training regimen, let's only run fifteen laps around the village."

Sakura nodded, remembering that the village was not particularly small. In any way, shape, or form. God, this warm up would be hell.

* * *

Sakura doubted she'd be able to make it home. After the torture her body had gone through, she could barely move her pinky-toe, much less walk halfway across the village. Realizing that she could alleviate some of the pain, she sent soothing healing chakra into her sore muscles. Sighing in relief, she pushed herself off the ground and made it home.

Her house was strangely quiet. Usually, her parents would be bustling around, preparing dinner or sitting at the table and having an animated discussion, but none of the lights were on. Sakura flicked the lightswitch to see a completely deserted kitchen. She turned her head to the fridge and sighed in relief. Her parents had left a note.

 _Dear Sakura,_

 _We will be off on a trip for about two weeks. There is a very enthusiastic seller in_

 _the land of hot springs. There are groceries in the fridge._

 _Love you,_

 _Mama and Papa_

Sakura smiled at the letter and folded it up. She prepared a quick (but hearty) dinner and eagerly dug in. After she finished her meal, she took a nice warm shower to wash all of the sweat and grime of of her body.

* * *

Morning came far to early. Despite healing her muscles, she still felt like she'd been run over by a truck multiple times. Scratch that. She'd been assaulted by the entire Akimichi clan using the human boulder jutsu. In short, everything hurt. Sakura groaned and pushed herself out of bed.

 _All of this suffering is for the greater good._ She assured herself, sending another wave of healing chakra down her body. _That was a bad idea._ She concluded. Since her chakra reserves were so abysmal, using medical ninjutsu drained her very quickly; she couldn't afford to be low on chakra now, she had a mission!

Groaning again, she got dressed, pulling on a mesh top, red vest, and a pair of black shorts. Noting that she was already late, she grabbed an apple and sprinted to the training grounds.

 _Damn it._ She cursed, _I'm later than Naruto. My past self would always be the earliest so that I could have one-on-one time with Sasuke._

"You're late." Sasuke stated, "You're usually early."

 _Damn it, he caught on._ "Sorry, I was training late last night and I was more tired than usual." She decided not to lie.

"Training for what?" Sasuke looked at Sakura suspiciously. Though he liked her hardworking persona, he doubted that it was permanent. She had changed _too_ much; she was practically a different person.

"I wasn't training _for_ anything other than getting stronger." She insisted, trying not to be shaken by Sasuke's piercing stare, "I was just working on taijutsu and strength training."

"Hn."

Back to grunts again. Had Sakura done something wrong? Brushing that though aside, she decided that she should be productive with her time. "I'd give Kakashi-sensei a couple hours. We should train by ourselves."

"Sounds great Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, finally arriving, "What will we do? Who's gonna lead us?"

Sasuke crossed his arms. "Since I-"

"I think we should all teach something we're good at." Sakura interrupted, earning a frustrated 'humph' from Sasuke.

Obviously miffed by Sakura's interruption, Sasuke decided to shoot down her idea. "Since we have a mission, we shouldn't waste unnecessary chakra."

"I agree, but if we work on stamina, Naruto's specialty, taijutsu, your specialty, and chakra control, my specialty, we won't waste any chakra." Sakura argued.

"What about chakra control?" Sasuke shot back, "That uses chakra."

"It doesn't use excess chakra if you do it right." Sakura smirked. "Now Naruto, wanna start?"

"Sure Sakura-chan!" He replied enthusiastically, looking ebullient as ever.

* * *

Her teammates proved to be decent senseis. Well, Naruto wasn't particularly good at teaching, but he wasn't as bad as Sakura had initially suspected. Though he had no idea of how to explain running for hours and burning up massive amounts of chakra without tiring out. In fact, he didn't do any teaching really; he just made Sasuke feel better about himself when he mentioned that he only had that much stamina because of something that he couldn't control. When he mentioned that, Sakura knew that Sasuke felt reassured that Naruto wasn't just incredibly strong and subsequently better than him, no, it was something about him that made him more resilient, not his own hard work. Though it was somewhat reassuring, Sasuke was still frustrated. All he wanted was to unconditionally be the strongest yet not be held back by his team.

Sakura noticed Sasuke brooding in the corner of the training field. Though it was not abnormal for the Uchiha, she really wanted to improve her relationship with him. Since she knew that he hated people doting on him, she decided to act as if she didn't know that he was obviously brooding and sulking about something.

"Sasuke," she started nonchalantly, "if you ever find time, do you want to train or something?"

Sasuke turned to look at her. Sakura braced herself for a death glare or some kind of belittling look, but Sasuke looked merely interested. "Sure." He replied, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking away.

"Wait!" Sakura called after his receding back, "When should we train?"

"Meet me at training ground three tonight at eight." Sasuke didn't turn his head to look at Sakura and kept walking home.

Deciding to deem that encounter as a success, Sakura too started to walk home.

* * *

Sakura hated silence. Her house seemed too large and far too quiet, making Sakura feel extremely uncomfortable. She shuffled around the house, making dinner and as much noise as possible. To help mitigate the silence, she put on some of the sappy romance records that her father had bought though she despised them with a passion. Anything to make her feel less alone. After living through the war, Sakura would have thought that she had acclimated herself to silence, but that was obviously not the case. After the weeks she spent wandering around the decimated cities, healing the sparse survivors, she realized that she had just become used to the discomfort; not acclimated to it.

Cringing at the thick, whiny voice of the singer, Sakura continued to prepare dinner. Since her parents were travelling merchants, she was used to cooking for herself while her parents were away on jobs; that didn't make her feel any less lonely though.

After at least thirty minutes of cooking and cleaning, she found herself humming along to the songs. Though she still grimaced at every sappy vocal slide and every pleading iteration of 'I love you', it kept her mind off of her parents absence. For some reason, their trip seemed so spontaneous and unsettling. Though it had been a while since the world was safe enough for them to travel for work, Sakura remembered that they tended to announce their departure date over dinner. This time, they hadn't mentioned anything. Placing her paranoia in the back of her mind, she decided to trek over to the library for some evening studying.

* * *

The librarian greeted Sakura warmly. Even before she became a ninja, Sakura had spent inordinate amounts of time in the library, devouring book after book. To this day, she found comfort in the library's warm ambience and rich aroma of books. Making her way into the shinobi section of the library, she saw someone she would never fathom to even consider entering the library. Hunched over a thick reference book was Naruto, his blue eyes squinting in obvious confusion.

"Hey Naruto!" Sakura greeted, sliding into a seat across the table from him, "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Yeah!" Naruto replied, looking up from his book, "This is my first time at the library! I've never really been good at understanding words, so studying is really hard."

"I'd be happy to help you." Sakura offered, glancing at the title of the book Naruto had chosen. "Oh I know this book. 'Konoha history A-Z' is great for learning about particular events in Konoha's history. Is there anything in particular you were looking for?"

Naruto visibly paled. His usual ebullient demeanor was replaced with a terrified apprehensiveness that reminded Sakura of the myriad of orphaned children during the war. "I don't want you to hate me Sakura-chan." He murmured, looking away from the kunoichi, "I've just really loved how nice you've been to me recently and I don't want that to change. I'm afraid that if I tell you what I'm looking for, you'll ask why, then I'll have to tell you something I'm afraid to tell you."

Sakura wanted to grab Naruto and squeeze him while reminding him that she would always view him as a cheerful hero and that the Kyuubi did not define him at all. Realizing that doing what she wanted would make Naruto mighty suspicious, she decided to take a different approach. "Naruto," she began, her voice soft and comforting, "I realize that I was a bit of an asshole towards you before and I'm really sorry. I've recently realized that I'm a kunoichi, not a annoying teenage girl. I've also realized that you aren't stupid or annoying or disgusting; instead, I think you're an amazing person and you have so much potential. Nothing you tell me now will stop me from thinking that. I promise Naruto."

Naruto's eyes began to fill with tears. For the first time in his life, someone was treating him like a person, and a good one at that. Overcome with emotion, Naruto forgot all about the negative connotations of telling Sakura about the Kyuubi. Little did he know, of course, that she was more knowledgeable in the subject than himself. "When I was born, something-a monster I guess, was sealed in me. Old-man Hokage told me that it was called the Kyuubi and that it was a village secret. Oh crap. That means I wasn't supposed to tell you that. Shit, shit, shit. Please don't tell anyone Sakura-chan."

Sakura stifled a giggle. "It's okay Naruto, I figured as much."

Naruto looked at her incredulously, "You mean… you knew?"

"When you mentioned that there was something about you that gave you extra stamina, I kinda put two and two together. The history scrolls say that the yondaime sealed the Kyuubi away and saved the village. Though they never explicitly said that Kyuubi was sealed in a kid, I'd heard rumors going around the village." Sakura caught herself before she said 'your father' instead of 'the yondaime'.

"And you don't hate me?" Naruto's blue eyes were wide and sad, making Sakura's heart break into pieces.

"Of course not!" Sakura glanced at the clock. Noticing that she had less than five minutes to meet Sasuke, she jumped out of her chair, "I gotta train! Sorry we weren't able to work much on understanding the book. Maybe next time?" Sakura waved goodbye to her teammate and sprinted to the training grounds.

 **A/N: Tada! Another chapter in less that a month. That's what I call progress. Anyway, thank you so much for your reviews, they've really motivated me!**

 **I'd like to give a shoutout to the following reviewers:**

 **Uh: (I think that's your username. You were under guest) Thank you for pointing out a couple plot holes. I'll be sure to fix those. As for the guest who mentioned that Sasuke was OOC, you might see a bit of that in the chapters to come. I'm trying to make him nicer and less cold, but I want it to be a gradual development. If his 'niceness' ever comes on too quickly, please tell me!**

 **NarutoAdmirer21: Thank you so much for your kind reviews. I really hope you enjoy the new chapters!**

 **sinedd662: I'm glad you liked the first chapter. Sorry to tell you, but the pairing for this fic is going to be sasusaku, not narusaku.**

 **Twisted Musalih: Here's some more!**

 **claudette14: I'd love to talk to you. Here's the next chapter for you to read! hehehe**

 **Thank you all so much! Hope you enjoyed!**


	4. Chapter 4

"You're late." Sasuke stated with annoyance, "I thought we settled on eight."

"Sorry, I ran into Naruto at the library." Sakura apologized, knowing wholeheartedly that Sasuke would still be mad.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted, beginning to stretch.

Sakura quickly followed in suite, touching her toes with ease. Once she was sufficiently stretched out, she began to jog around the forest. Every two minutes or so, she'd run in a different style. She had been running for at least fifteen minutes when she was hit with a disgustingly familiar presence. It hit her like a wave, forcing her to stop running. For some reason, she couldn't put a finger on to whom the presence belonged, but she did know that it made her feel really nauseous. Sasuke seemed to notice her discomfort and stopped beside her.

"What's wrong?" He asked brusquely, obviously angry that she had interrupted his warm-up.

"You should leave." She forced out, wrapping her thin arms around her stomach, "I-I don't know what's going on, but you should leave."

"Why?" Sasuke glared at her as if she were a stupid schoolgirl, "What's wrong with you?"

Sakura mustered up as fierce of a glare as she possibly could. "Just leave." She growled, pushing the Uchiha away.

Sasuke stumbled backwards, not expecting a chakra infused push. He looked at Sakura with deep content and walked away.

By the time Sasuke had left, the feeling had subsided. Sakura lowered herself to the ground, resting her back on a tall tree. In her current, confused state, she couldn't remember where she had felt that presence, nor did she want to. The only thing she knew about the sinister aura was that Sasuke could not be anywhere near it. Of course, if Sakura was in her right mind, she would instantly know to whom the presence belonged, but at the moment, she probably wouldn't be able to recognize it if it was dancing naked in her soup bowl. Taking several shuddery breaths, she pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes and tried to calm herself down. Once her heartbeat had reverted to a normal rate, she decided that it was about time to go home.

* * *

Sasuke hated being confused. It made him feel stupid and the last thing Sasuke wanted to feel was stupid. Being confused about Sakura, though, made him even angrier. She was the girl that wore her feelings on her sleeve and practically announced every emotion and desire she had. Since she'd changed Sasuke hadn't been able to read her. _She's so annoying!_ Sasuke thought, clenching his teeth. She had been annoying before, but in a different way. Before she was clingy, weak, and emotional. Now she was cryptic and suddenly stronger. There was no way she could have gotten that much stronger in the course of a day! There must be something wrong. But that wasn't the problem now was it? No, he had just been forced out of the training grounds by Sakura who seemed to be suddenly sick. Maybe she was taking chakra enhancing steroids? Sasuke had hear that they had negative side effects. But no, that couldn't be it. Sakura made it seem like there was some kind of ghost or monster in that forest. One that was particularly dangerous, but only to him. Or maybe it was dangerous for both of them, but Sakura wanted to save him? God, that would be totally out of character for Sakura. She was the one that required protection. Naruto had spoken to Sasuke about how their duty was to protect Sakura at all costs. Of course, Sasuke thought that was pathetic. She was a shinobi, she should pull her own weight! Just because she was a girl didn't mean she deserved special treatment and two personal bodyguards. In the Uchiha household, you were required to be an elite shinobi regardless of your gender. Ugh! Sasuke's mind was wandering. He still hadn't answered the real question. _Why was he just forced out of the training grounds?_ Nothing made sense and Sasuke was frustrated. Frustrated that he didn't understand Sakura, frustrated that she was catching up to him in strength, and frustrated that he was spending his time thinking about Sakura and not his revenge. Clenching her fists, he stomped off to the training ground, ignoring Sakura's warning to steer clear of it.

* * *

All Sakura could do right now was lie down. She didn't have the presence of mind to mull over the recent happenings or wonder why it affected her the way it did, but she did have the ability to lie on her bed and cry, remembering her past comrades.

 _It was so stupid of me to think that I would be able to throw myself back in time and not have any mental fallout._ She thought bitterly, curling up into a fetal ball. She knew of many shinobi who had suffered from acute PTSD and been forced to leave the ninja lifestyle; thankfully, she knew her case was not quite as serious, but nevertheless, she felt mentally drained and thoroughly overwhelmed.

A fresh round of tears came pouring down her face when she remembered her last conversation with Kakashi-sensei. He had been bed-ridden after a near fatal battle with Madara, and was in the process of dying.

" _Sakura" He croaked out, his mismatched eyes barely open, "Thank you for being the smartest one on your team. T-tell Naruto to bring Sasuke back for me."_

 _Sakura grabbed his gloved hand and squeezed it tightly. Every time Kakashi took another labored breath, Sakura felt her world spin a little faster. With much effort, Kakashi managed one last eye crinkle before taking a final, shallow intake of breath. Sakura's hands glowed bright, bright green as she tried futilely to return the life to her sensei. Though she knew that Kakashi was already dead, she poured more and more chakra into her hands, her body shaking. Though she felt unfathomable sorrow, her eyes remained painfully dry. It was as if she had used up all of her tears throughout the war; now her eyes were dry and she couldn't feel the relief one experiences after crying. Taking deep, panting breaths, she stumbled out of the medical tent, disregarding the black spots that invaded her vision. She was able to walk a few more feet before she feel gracelessly to her knees, still hyperventilating. The hot, sun-baked ground burned her hands as she began to sink towards the ground. Her conscious was fading quickly and she did nothing to stay awake. She embraced the darkness of unconsciousness, falling gratefully into its depths._

Now, Sakura was happy that she was able to cry. Finally, she felt like she was able to let go of some of the painful feelings bundled up in her. Having the chance to restart was a blessing and a curse in the sense that she held the great responsibility of 'making sure the world doesn't get fucked up again' but she also got to enjoy the good times he had with her teammates a second time. This time, she'd appreciate it more.

Though she felt like a substantial weight had been lifted off her chest, she knew that she didn't feel up to leaving her bed or thinking about the recent happenings in a strictly clinical manner. Accepting that she needed time to relax and think of simply nothing, she made herself comfortable in bed and closed her eyes, taking several deep breaths.

* * *

Kakashi was suspicious. Well, he had been suspicious since his team took the bell test. They were incredible, yes, but one of the members just stuck out like a sore thumb. He expected the boys to have a lot of potential because of who they were, but this girl from a civilian family seemed to be even more promising. First of all, she was a complete medical prodigy which was completely unheard of since there was no one she'd be able to learn from without getting it marked on her record. The hospital was so tight that they would have taken detailed notes on who tutored her and her progress. Since there were no such records, Kakashi could assume that she got outside help. The only outside help though would be Tsunade and she hadn't been seen near the village from years. Of course, Kakashi could just be blowing things out of proportion and assuming that because she was civilian born, her skills were highly unlikely, but Kakashi believed that he was on to something. Not to mention, Sakura had extreme chakra masking abilities. If he wasn't the elite jonin and ex-anbu member Kakashi Hatake, he probably wouldn't have been able to detect her during the bell test. That could have just been luck on her part since he wasn't paying much attention to her, but honestly, Kakashi didn't know. What he did know, was that he needed to confront her in the least conspicuous way possible. First, though, he'd confer with another trusted jonin.

* * *

"Yo." Kakashi slid into the booth across from Kurenai, interrupting her doodling, "I knew I'd find you here."

"Hey Kakashi." She replied, folding the sheet of paper and placing it into one of the pockets of her flack vest, "I was just planning out some scenes for new genjutsu I'm thinking of. Anyway, you never eat with me unless you want something. What is it this time?"

"I just wanted to talk to you." Kakashi crinkled his only visible eye, "I'll dare you to take Asuma on a date later."

With that last phrase, Kurenai's face turned the color of her crimson eyes. "W-what did you want to talk about?" She stuttered, regaining her composure.

"See, one of the members of my genin team is well… interesting."

"If it's the Uchiha, I've already told all the academy professors that just because the Yuuhi are distant relatives of the Uchiha, doesn't mean I can take him in or teach him Uchiha stuff." Kurenai groaned, rolling her eyes.

"Actually, it's about Sakura Haruno." Kakashi replied, chuckling at Kurenai's exasperated outburst.

"Hmm, the girl?" She looked confused, "If I remember her files correctly, she was pretty average other than being highly intelligent and having a huge crush on Sasuke. Why do you need to talk about her?"

"It's just that she's almost the opposite of what's stated on the files."

Kurenai cocked her head in confusion.

"She's suddenly a medical prodigy, her chakra masking skills surpass most chunin, she doesn't seem to be infatuated with Sasuke, but her intelligence seems to be the same." Kakashi sighed heavily, "Could it be that she was hiding her skills prior?"

"But why would she?"

"I honestly don't know. Perhaps it could be to gain the Uchiha's attention. Some girls believe the misconception of 'boys won't like you if you're strong and don't need protection'."

Kakashi considered Kurenai's idea. "I suppose that explains some things, but how did she acquire her skill in the first place?"

"Did her files say she was exceptional in any area?"

"They stated that she had the best chakra control and memory in the class."

"I suppose that would make material very easy for her to learn. Honestly, she's a confusing case."

Kakashi nodded his head in agreement. "I'll talk to her."

 **A/N: Look at that! I posted three times this month! Wow!**

 **On to the explaining: So, obviously people are suspicious of Sakura. She changed so much, Kakashi would have to be an idiot to not notice. Another two things: one, I want Kakashi and Kurenai to be friends. So they are. Look at this power I have! Two, I have a headcannon that the Yuuhi and Uchiha are distantly related, so I made it so.**

 **Hope you like it!**


	5. Chapter 5

Sakura had a strange feeling of expectancy. Throughout the entire day, she had felt like something was going to happen, but she couldn't put a finger on it. It seemed mighty important, but at the same time she was inherently worried about it. Getting increasingly frustrated, she checked the calendar in the library.

That's it! She grinned at her epiphone. The mission to the waves is supposed to be tomorrow. After getting over the initial excitement of shaking the feeling of expectancy, the gravitas of the situation finally sunk in. Though the mission was an important turning point for her team, she worried that some of the changes she made would affect the outcome. What if Sasuke actually died this time? Or what if he didn't activate his sharingan. That actually wouldn't be a terrible thing… Sakura chuckled to herself. Still, she shook her head. Sasuke had to come to terms with his sharingan and the darkness that came along with it; hiding it would be futile.

Putting those worries behind her, she made her way out of the library, arms full of scrolls.

"Sakura-chan?" The librarian called before she left, "If you see your blond teammate, Naruto was it? Tell him to return the book he checked out. He's about a week and a half late."

"Will do!" Sakura replied, opening the double doors of the library and walking down the warm Konoha streets.

Crossing his arm defiantly, Naruto put on the strongest pout he could.

"This is freaking BORING!" He whined, pulling the last weed out of the garden, "We're really strong Kakashi-sensei, let us go on a cooler mission!"

"Finish this up and we'll think about it." Kakashi replied nonchalantly, returning to his orange Icha-Icha book.

"Hey, teme," Naruto whispered to the Uchiha, "I bet I can pull up these weeds before you can."

Sasuke snorted, "Dobe. You wish."

The two shot each other a competitive glare and began to pull out the weeds at a rapid pace.

"Make sure you don't pick the-" Sakura started, before realizing that they had indeed, picked weeds and plants alike. "Idiots!" She exclaimed, looking at the pulled up flowers. "We're going to get in so much trouble…"

"Shit." Naruto hissed, "It was the teme's fault!"

"You initiated it, dobe!" Sasuke retorted.

"You didn't have to go along with it Sasuke." Sakura clucked her tongue, "And it was really immature of you to initiate a fight like that Naruto. Also, return your library books."

Sasuke glared at the pink haired girl while Naruto looked at his feet ashamedly.

"I'm sorry Sakura-chan. I'll also go to the library as soon as possible." Naruto muttered, "Teme!" He whispered, "Apologize!"

Sasuke just shot the two of them a dirty look and turned his back.

"That bastard." Naruto muttered and Sakura couldn't help but agree with him.

"Sasuke!" She called, jogging to catch up with him. "You can't do something wrong then expect everyone to just be okay with it. You're being worse than Naruto!"

That obviously struck a nerve in the Uchiha. "Worse than Naruto?" He growled, "That pathetic idiot will never be better than me at anything."

Sakura shook her head disapprovingly, "I wouldn't be so sure of that."

Sasuke was already frustrated with Sakura and now she was just rubbing salt on the wound. It was obvious that he was the strongest member of team seven, and she had no right to underestimate him; especially by saying that the weakest member, Naruto, would surpass him? Bullshit.

Before Sasuke could deliver a scathing remark, Kakashi came ambling into the garden.

"I can't believe you messed up a simple gardening mission…" Kakashi sighed, "I don't know, that harder mission Naruto requested might be a bit much for you guys."

"I'm sorry Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto bowed dramatically, "It was the dobe's fault!"

Sasuke looked downright murderous. At this point, Sakura expected Sasuke to attack everyone on the team; thankfully, he was still a genin and not his future, psychopathic, self.

"Alright you three." Kakashi instructed, "Clean up this mess before the landlady comes back. If it looks good, I'll consider asking the Hokage for a harder mission."

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, Naruto still requested the mission to the wave.

"Fine Naruto." The Hokage capitulated, "I'll send in the escort."

"Is it gonna be a princess?!" Naruto bounced on his feet excitedly, his eyes glued to the door.

A few seconds later, a stout man came wobbling through the door, clutching a bottle of sake.

"You sent a bunch of brats to protect me?" The drunk man slurred, "Konoha's really not living up to its reputation."

Seemingly unaffected, the Hokage introduced the escort. "This is Tazuna." He announced, "He is a master bridge-builder from the Land of Waves. Your job is to escort him home."

"Who's the short one with the stupid face?" Tazuna asked, looking at Naruto.

"Haha, Sasuke, you just got dissed!" Naruto chuckled before realizing that he was, indeed, the shortest. "Why you…" He growled, attempting to launch himself at the bridge-builder.

"You can't kill the person you're supposed to protect." Kakashi sighed, holding Naruto back. "Let's get going. Before we leave though, I'd like to have a word with Sakura."

Sakura froze. God I hope he's not suspicious. She thought, her palms already sweating.

Kakashi motioned for Sakura to join him in the hallway. "So," he began, smiling in order to lull Sakura into a false sense of security, "I just wanted to talk a bit about your file."

Sakura tried her best to look unfazed despite her pounding heart. "Sure sensei!" She said, plastering a fake smile on her face.

"You may or may not know this, but your file from the academy differs greatly from your current attitude and skill set."

Sakura nodded her head thoughtfully, looking merely concerned.

"Do you know why that may be?"

Sakura's mind was running at a mile-a-minute, trying to formulate possible excuses. Remembering the excuse she had used several days ago with Sasuke, she realized that she only needed to tweak it slightly in order to convince Kakashi. "See," she started, "when I was in the academy, I really, really liked Sasuke." Sakura managed to force a blush on her face. "Since then, I've kinda got over it, but during the academy days, I thought he wouldn't like me if I was strong. Guys like it when they have to protect girls, right? Anyway, I hid a lot of my talent and made myself seem really weak. Now that I'm in a team, I understand I need to pull my weight. Don't worry, I won't be hiding my strength anymore."

"I see." Kakashi nodded his head. Kurenai had been right. "Still, you haven't told me how you learned medical ninjutsu."

Shit. Sakura thought, wracking her mind for another excuse. "I was really interested in it, you see, so I checked out some books from the library. It turns out I have a knack for it, so I kept going."

"You learned medical ninjutsu from mere library books?" Kakashi looked at Sakura incredulously, raising his visible eyebrow.

"Yep!" Sakura replied with fake cheer.

"Alright…" Kakashi began with blatant uncertainty, "Let's go join up with the boys."

Naruto cheered upon leaving the village for the first time, the same way he did in Sakura's previous life.

"The day's beautiful, we get a C class mission, this is perfect!" Naruto gushed, practically skipping.

"Shut up." Sasuke commanded without a hint of happiness, "We're on a mission to protect someone, not have a picnic."

"I like that one." Tazuna nodded approvingly at Sasuke, "He has his priorities straight."

"Hmph." Naruto pouted, "That teme's nothing special. When I become Hokage, I'll prove to everyone how much stronger I am ya know!"

"I bet you will." Sakura butted Naruto's shoulder affectionately, half to encourage him and half to put Sasuke in his place.

The group walked through the Konoha forests happily, their guard completely down.

"A puddle." Sakura muttered, hoping to spark awareness in her teammates. "That's strange, when was the last time it rained again?"

"Protect the bridge builder!" Kakashi exclaimed before getting chopped to pieces by a pair of metal chains.

Though Sakura knew he was pretending, the bloody heap of flesh on the ground was still disgusting.

"K-Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto cried, wholeheartedly believing that his sensei was dead.

"We still have to protect Tazuna, Naruto!" Sakura replied with fake panic in her voice.

Sasuke quickly took the initiative, shielding Naruto from the two ninja. Cracking her knuckles, Sakura joined into the fray. She knew that it was a bad idea to go full 'Tsunade's badass pupil' on the poor chunin, but she decided to pack a little extra into her punch. Soaring down from a tree, she slammed her chakra infused fist into one of the ninja's backs, causing the ground to crack around his fallen body. She sighed happily once she noticed that Sasuke had successfully taken down the second ninja.

"We defeated the enemy, but what about Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura briefly stared at the sun so that her eyes would water.

With a dramatic 'poof', Kakashi appeared in front of the genin.

"You're alive!" Sakura cried with excitement, "Thank goodness!"

"Sakura, Sasuke, very good job." Kakashi commended, "That was a very impressive display of strength Sakura. Naruto, I didn't expect for you to freeze up like that."

Naruto clenched his teeth and looked down at the wound on his hand.

"It's probably poisoned Naruto." Sakura said worriedly.

Instead of offering Sakura his hand to be healed, Naruto whipped out a kunai and stuck it into the wound. "I'm not going to give up!" He announced, "Because that is my ninja way!"

A smiled blossomed on Sakura's face when she realized that Naruto hadn't changed too much. "Naruto, I'm so glad you've realized your nindo, but if you lose anymore blood you could-"

"Die." Kakashi interrupted, making sure Naruto was sufficiently scared. Though he was glad that his pupil was growing up, he wanted for him to know that a ninja couldn't just stick a kunai in his hand in the middle of a mission. He had to have some decorum.

"Sakura heal me!" Naruto cried dramatically, thrusting his bleeding hand in front of Sakura's face.

"God Naruto, I'm going to get tons of healing practice with you on my team…" Sakura sighed, channeling healing chakra into the wound. After she was finished, she began to feel strangely woozy. Quickly, her vision began to fade and everything sounded so far away. Grasping at what felt like nothingness, she felt herself fall backwards and completely lose consciousness.

"Is she awake yet?!" Naruto knelt down by the unconscious girl, his eyes wild with worry, "Did I do that? Did I hurt Sakura-chan?"

"It's your fault." Sasuke hissed, "You're stupidity made her overuse her chakra and now she's a dead-weight."

As if on cue, Sakura pushed herself up with wobbly arms. "Who's a dead-weight again?" She asked, smirking at the Uchiha, "Sorry about that guys. I must've overused my chakra with that punch and the healing. I'll be fine in a few minutes." Sakura really hoped she wasn't lying to herself. If she remembered correctly Zabuza would be popping up in about thirty minutes, so she had to get her shit together.

"A few minutes?" Sasuke scoffed, "I thought you were a medic. You're going to need at least an hour."

"Don't underestimate me Sasuke." She replied, making her way to her feet, noting how much her knees wobbled. Slowly, she staggered over to a fallen log and sat down.

"I'm just going to drink some water, then we can hit the road-"

As mist fell over the clearing, bringing a terrifying, dark killing intent with it. Even with the experience of a neo-sannin, Sakura was scared. Not because she'd have to face Zabuza, but because he was early. Really early.

 **A/N: Hello! Sorry for the weird formatting, my computer broke, so I'm trying to update off my family iPad. Anyway, this is where the story begins to stray from cannon. Not much at first, but it'll get there!**

 **Thanks you guys, bye!**


	6. Chapter 6

"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed, "Where is Kakashi-sensei?!"

"H-he went to go talk with Tazuna." Naruto replied, his voice thick with worry, "What's going on?!"

"I don't know." Sakura replied semi-earnestly, "Get Sasuke. Make sure to not stray far from me. We can't get separated."

"It feels like death!" Naruto held tightly to a kunai, his knuckles turning white.

"It's called a killing intent." Sakura tried to keep her voice steady, "Most high-class ninja are capable to producing one. Don't worry though, I promise to protect both you and Sasuke. Go! Get Sasuke!"

Naruto looked frantically through the mist, finally finding Sasuke, frozen in fear, kunai aimed for his own chest.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called, running over to his petrified friend. The Uchiha looked about ready to take his own life if it meant escaping the mist. "What the _fuck_ are you doing?!" With a powerful lurch, Naruto yanked the kunai out of Sasuke's quivering hand. "Stop being a fucking baby and help us fight whoever is trying to kill us!"

For once, Sasuke was devoid of a scathing remark. He looked so vulnerable and scared, as if he was being reminded of something that had happened to him long ago.

"You're never this much of a wussy." Naruto shook Sasuke's shoulders, "What is wrong with you?"

Sasuke couldn't open his mouth to form words in case he'd vomit. He could barely hear Naruto's concerned voice over the sound of blood rushing through his head and the images of his murdered family flashing through his eyes. The last time he'd felt a killing intent this strong was on that night. The night he lost everything.

"Sasuke?" Naruto's voice was more soothing now, "Come on, Sakura's waiting for us. She promised she'd protect us. Don't worry, okay?"

No. That's not what Sasuke wanted. He didn't want someone's damn protection! He wanted to be capable of protecting himself, yet he couldn't. Here he was, shaking like a newborn, unable to move his terrified body or form a single word. Sasuke was so mad at himself. Naruto was able to withstand the killing intent with ease; in fact, he brushed it off as if it wasn't even there. But he, the self-proclaimed 'strongest member of team seven', was acting like a frightened little puppy. It wasn't fair! Using his rage to fuel his movement, he stood up straighter.

"Thank god Sasuke, now let's go find Sakura." Naruto sighed in relief, guiding Sasuke's shaking legs towards their female teammate.

"There you are!" Sakura sighed in relief upon seeing her two teammates again. "We need to help Kakashi-sensei right now! The enemy confronted him and he can't fight the enemy off plus protect Tazuna at the same time!"

"On it Sakura-chan!" Naruto announced confidently, "Do you have a plan?"

"How would I? I don't know what the enemy is capable of!" Sakura lied through her teeth. Still, she wouldn't hold all of her information from her teammates, instead she'd release it when the knowledge she had was plausible. "Sasuke, Naruto, let's go!"

Sasuke forced his fear to the back of his mind, running numbly alongside his teammates. Yes, he was still afraid, how could he not be, but he was more frustrated; all he wanted was strength, and lately, he had been feeling weaker than ever! Still, he grit his teeth and rushed into battle like a proper shinobi. He refused to be worse than Naruto ever again.

Sakura wanted to sigh in relief when she saw Kakashi more than holding his own against Zabuza. The scene was similar to the one in her previous life, but still, something struck her as off. She could sense Haku's chakra, but it wasn't located in the trees or the clearing behind her as it had been before. Instead it was located closely behind Zabuza, masked well, but not unnoticeable. It could just be paranoia and Haku would move later on in the battle, but it still rubbed Sakura the wrong way; she wanted to slap herself. Getting worked up by the positioning of a ninja when they had shown up thirty minutes to an hour early? Ridiculous. Shaking her head, she jumped into battle mode.  
"Sasuke, guard the bridge builder!" She commanded, running towards Kakashi and Zabuza, kunai in hand. "Naruto, back me up!"

"Do you know what you're doing?" Sasuke spat, obviously miffed that he would have to guard Tazuna instead of fight.

"I've got a plan!" Sakura insisted, running towards the fight.

Kakashi was currently dominating a hand-to-hand battle. He threw punch after punch, ducking gracefully under Zabuza's quick movements. Sakura gasped as a punch connected with Zabuza's face. Reeling back from the impact, a small line of blood dribbled out of his mouth, suggesting shattered teeth. Kakashi didn't waste a moment. Before Zabuza could retaliate, he rotated his body and landed a solid roundhouse kick right at Zabuza's ribs. Of course, one kick was not enough to finish the missing-nin. He jumped back towards the river, weaving rapid fire hand-signs. A titanic wave of water rose from the river, razing the plants and undergrowth as it barreled towards Team seven. Sakura clenched her teeth as she gazed at the incipient wave, absolutely unsure of how to counter it. Unfortunately, her chakra affinity was earth and though she had learned water jutsu, her current body didn't have the chakra. Breathing a sigh of relief, she noticed Kakashi weaving the same hand signs in hope to cancel out the jutsu.

Fine mist sprayed down on the genin as Zabuza was pushed backwards by the force of Kakashi's wave. It was strange really. Before, Zabuza had put up more of a fight, but now, he looked pathetic compared to Kakashi. Flashing his crimson eye, Kakashi copied Zabuza's jutsus so quickly it looked as if he was predicting the future. Fear and frustration grew evident in the missing-nin's eyes as he realized that he was outmatched. Still, Sakura was afraid. The fight was going so differently than it had previously. Zabuza _wasn't_ supposed to be getting his ass kicked, and Naruto and Sasuke were supposed to learn to work as a team.

"Sakura, what was your plan?" Sasuke implored, still shielding Tazuna.

"I don't think it'll be of use…" Sakura looked worriedly at the battle, "From what I've heard of Zabuza, he's supposed to be a lot stronger. Does he seem wounded to you?"

"No." Sasuke raised a single eyebrow. "He just seems like an average jonin that doesn't stand a chance against Kakashi of the Sharingan."

"But he's one of the seven ninja swordsmen of the mist!" She insisted, still not letting her guard down, "He should be stronger!"

Sasuke looked at her with anger and confusion, "Why are you mad that Kakashi's winning? Do you want to die?"

"No!" Sakura shook her head defiantly, "I-it's just-" she sighed, "shannaroo. I don't know."

Naruto looked back at her, "Should we help Kakashi out, or should we just sit back and watch him kick ass?" He asked.

"It looks like Kakashi's got this." Sakura sighed, growing more worried by the second.

She was right, within minutes, Kakashi had Zabuza pinned to a tree and half-unconscious, his kunai about to slit the missing-nin's throat. Before he could finish the job, he was forced backwards. A large hunk of ice barreled towards him, hitting him square in the chest. Thankfully, he wasn't severely injured, but he was definitely surprised. A figure emerged from behind the trees, scooping up Zabuza's limp body; Sakura didn't know if she was thankful or not, but the boy who had saved Zabuza was indeed Haku. Nevermind, she wasn't thankful. Instead of pretending to be a hunter-nin, Haku burst in and saved Zabuza as an ally.

"What are you doing?!" Sasuke demanded, brandishing his kunai.

"He was foolish." Haku stated in his soft, raspy voice, "He has not been well, yet he insisted on rushing into a fight." With that final message, he disappeared in a cloud of snow, taking Zabuza with him.

 _Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit._ Sakura thought. _This is so different. What's even going on?! How could my minimal changes influence the future already?!_ "What just happened?" Sakura muttered, glancing worriedly at her teammates.

"Now that's a question for the ages Sakura-" Kakashi's eyes rolled backwards as his fell forwards, his knees buckling.

In the blink of an eye, Sasuke rushed over to Kakashi and caught him before he fell, grunting as he supported the unconscious man's weight.

"What happened to Kakashi-sensei?!" Naruto exclaimed, his eyes wide with panic, "Is it poison?! Is he…" he paused dramatically, "Dead?!"

"No Naruto." Sakura sighed, "He overused his chakra. From what I've heard, the sharingan is rather draining."

"How do you know about the sharingan?" Sasuke questioned, his voice low and menacing.

"There are plenty of reference books in the library. It's not difficult information to come across." Sakura assured Sasuke, looking slightly exasperated. "Now let's get Tazuna to the land of waves. I have a feeling our mission won't be done there though."

"Hn." Sasuke agreed. Or at least Sakura thought he agreed; he never made sense anyway.

* * *

Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami, was the equivalent of a saint. The minute she saw the three genin carrying the burden of their unconscious sensei, she took him off their hands and provided them with well-needed and well-deserved refreshments.

"My goodness!" She exclaimed, looking at their dirty, tired state, "What on earth _happened_?"

"We ran into one of Gato's hired henchmen, Zabuza." Tazuna sighed, running his fingers through his sparse hair, "If only building this bridge wasn't so goddamn hard."

Sakura cringed at the forlorn looks on Tsunami and Tazuna's face. Their village was severely impoverished and their only hope lay in the new bridge; of course they weren't just able to build it without problems. "Is there anything we can do for you, Tsunami?" Sakura offered, smiling kindly at the woman, "We'd really love to help in any way we can."

"Oh I couldn't impose such things on you." Tsunami shook her head, playing the role of 'good hostess' perfectly.

"Please, we insist."

"Yeah, ya know!" Naruto added, his spiky hair bouncing as he nodded.

Tsunami sighed in resignation, "I suppose you three could run to the market for me. I'll give you a list." The woman stood up quickly from her chair and hurried to grab a loose sheet of paper. After quickly jotting something down, she handed the folded note to Sakura. "Thank you so much." She said sincerely, "I really hope your sensei will be okay."

"I'm sure he will!" Naruto assured, skipping out of the house with the rest of his team.

"We haven't talked about this enough," Sasuke started, "so what happened with Zabuza? Who was the masked figure?"

"An ally of his." Sakura speculated, "It's strange though. He was wearing a hunter-nin mask, yet he didn't try to act like a hunter-nin at all!"

"That's true." Sasuke nodded thoughtfully, "Perhaps he was expecting to utilize his disguise, but he deemed it useless?"

"I honestly don't know." Sakura groaned. "It just...rubs me the wrong way."

"Hn."

* * *

The town was genuinely dilapidated. The small houses were riddled with holey roofs and cracking walls while the selection of food was frankly pitiful. Sakura gazed guiltily at the knobbly knees and painfully visible ribs of the children begging on the streets; begging from whom, Sakura was unsure, but it was still depressing nonetheless. She stifled a gasp when she saw a young girl limping down the street with a black and purple bruise covering the entirety of her lower leg. Overcome with the need to assist the girl, she ran over.

"May I help you?" She asked, her voice soft and kind.

The girl backed away suspiciously, her body tense.

"I promise, I'm just going to heal your leg. Nothing more." Sakura insisted, motioning for the girl to sit beside her.

The girl complied.

"What's your name?" Sakura asked, her hand glowing with a soft green light.

"Amara." The girl whispered, staring intently at Sakura's hands as they knit the fractured bone back together. Once the bone was fixed, the bruise faded completely, leaving Amara's leg merely dirty. "Th-thank you." She gazed at Sakura with deep admiration. "That was amazing."

"I'm glad I could help." Sakura helped Amara to her feet and watched her as she skipped away.

"What do you think you're doing?" Sasuke ran over to Sakura, "You're going to attract a crowd and both you and I know you don't have enough chakra to heal everyone in this town."

"No, not all at a time, but throughout our stay, I can try." Sakura retorted, crossing her arms.

"How do you know we'll be staying that long?"

"Look at the state Kakashi-sensei's in. Do you really think we'll be going anywhere any time soon?" Sakura looked smugly at Sasuke and turned to the small crowd she had attracted. Villagers young and old had gathered in a small clump around the bench she had been previously sitting at. Slowly, an old woman approached her, cradling an infected arm.

"Thank you so much for healing Amara." He bowed respectfully and Sakura was taken-aback. Wasn't _she_ supposed to bow? "I would really appreciate it if you could heal my arm. We don't really have a doctor here."

"Of course." Sakura agreed, "Please sit here."

"Sakura-" Sasuke started.

"I'm _fine_ Sasuke!" Sakura insisted, "Herd these people into some semblance of a line would you?"

Sasuke didn't like being ordered around, but he somehow didn't feel angry at Sakura. Strangely enough, he admired her actions despite the fact that he was annoyed with her at the moment. Or was he? Was it that he was annoyed with himself, but needed to find a receptacle? Sasuke shook his head, as if to clear the thoughts from his mind. Sighing at his uncharacteristic behavior, he made sure the villagers were as organized as possible. It was so strange; he felt a warm feeling in his stomach when he watched Sakura help people. In fact, he too wanted to aid the needy. He blinked several times at his realization. Somehow in the trauma of his childhood, he forgot the joy he felt when he was able to help people. Still driven by this awakening, he walked over to Sakura.

"Can I help?" He asked monotonously.

Sakura tossed him a roll of bandages. "If I heal someone with a broken bone, wrap the appendage so that the healed bone doesn't get jostled."

"Hn." Sasuke grabbed the bandages and forced back a strange urge to smile.

 **A/N: As promised, here's the chapter!**

 **So I call this chapter the: Sasuke gets some goddamn feelings chapter. And I know, he probably seems mighty OOC, but this time, I think it's called for. In the anime, he has a mini panic-attack when meeting Zabuza, but is consoled by Kakashi. I think if Kakashi wasn't there, he would have been so much more scared. Not to mention, if Sakura offers her protection, Sasuke would just be frustrated. And as for the healing scene, Sasuke was a nice kid. He was funny and he loved his brother. I get this gut feeling that he actually wants to help people, but is too numb to feel the compassion. But with the weakness he experienced earlier, I feel like he's slightly thawed now. Anyway, hope that made sense.**

 **Please favorite and review!**


	7. Chapter 7

Sakura had helped at least two dozen villagers in the past hour and was definitely feeling the strain.

"I'll be back tomorrow once I get some rest and replenish my chakra." She announced, motioning for the crowd to disperse, "Do come back."

The villagers smiled at the young girl and quickly left the clearing. Soon, Sakura was left alone with Sasuke.

"Where'd Naruto get to?" Sakura asked, rolling her neck in relaxing circles.

"I sent him to get the groceries for Tsunami." Sasuke replied, using far more words than Sakura expected. "I figured he'd just get in the way here."

Sakura chuckled lightheartedly, "You might be right about that. Let's go get him."

Sasuke nodded and led Sakura to the small market stands.

"Sakura-chan, Sasuke-teme!" Naruto exclaimed, hurrying over to his teammates with many bags in hand. "There you are! I got the groceries."

"I've noticed." Sakura smiled, grabbing a bag from Naruto's hands, easing his burden. "Let's head back to Tazuna's. Kakashi may have woken up."

"He better have!" Naruto nodded to himself, "He can't sleep forever."

"That's called death dobe." Sasuke replied, "Kakashi is certainly not dead."

"Why do you never call him Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura implored, realizing she never got the answer to that question. "You only call him Kakashi, it's weird."

Sasuke look taken off-guard. It was strange, he didn't really know himself. Devoid of a proper response, he merely shrugged his shoulders and kept walking.

"You're supposed to answer a girl's questions, teme!" Naruto reprimanded, "It hurts their feelings if you don't ya know."

"Don't talk about me like I'm not right next to you idiot!" Sakura chastised, knocking Naruto on the head, "And my feelings don't get hurt that easily. Not to say you should ignore my questions, but answer them 'cause you're a good person, not 'cause I'm a girl. Shannaro!"

"Sorry Sakura-chan." Naruto apologized, "Still teme, answer her question!"

Sasuke looked forward blankly, actively ignoring Naruto's whiny voice. He refused to answer any question he didn't want to answer; and his will would stay strong.

"Eh, whatever." Sakura capitulated, "I'll find out one day Sasuke Uchiha." She vowed, "Even if it's when we're both 100 years old! I swear I'll never leave you alone until you tell me."

The prospect of Sakura remaining by his side until he was old made Sasuke strangely happy. Maybe it was the remaining joy from helping those people, but Sasuke was in a suspiciously good mood; not that he'd let his teammates notice of course.

* * *

Tsunami greeted the three warmly, placing hot tea and snacks on the table. Sakura accepted the food gratefully and devoured the cookies in minutes.

"Thank you Tsunami-san!" She smiled at the woman between ravenous bites, "This is really delicious."

"I agree!" Naruto exclaimed, shoving a full cookie into his mouth. "Best I've had in ages."

Sasuke nodded his head in agreement, taking small dainty bites of the cookies, followed by elegant sips of tea. Obviously the son of a clan head.

"You eat like a princess, teme." Naruto pointed out, grinning maliciously, "You act all tough and shit, but when you eat, you look like a hoity-toity royal lady!"

Sakura almost spit out her tea, knowing that Naruto was 100% correct. "He's not wrong Sasuke." She chuckled, watching the Uchiha's face turn the color of his favorite food.

"I'll kill you dobe." He growled, standing up from the table.

"I'd like to see you try." Naruto taunted, rising from his seat as well.

"If you're gonna fight, do it outside!" Sakura warned, herding the angry boys out the door. "Thank you for the snacks!" She called behind her as she led her teammates into the forest.

* * *

"Go ahead." She motioned towards them, "Duke it out. Now there's nothing for you to destroy except trees."

"Y-you're going to let us fight?" Naruto looked at Sakura suspiciously, "I thought you hated it."

"I do." Sakura agreed, "Go ahead though. It's better to let your anger out on each other rather than holding it up and eventually killing a bunch of people because you're so angry."

Naruto tapped his chin thoughtfully and eventually nodded. "Sounds good by me Sakura-chan. Let's go teme."

"You're on, dobe." Sasuke replied, sliding into a fighting stance.

The two boys circled each other menacingly, sending glares and smirks every few seconds.

"You gonna hit me or are you just gonna circle around me like a coward teme?" Naruto goaded the Uchiha. "Or are you just scared I'm gonna beat you?"

"In your dreams dobe." Sasuke smirked, making a jab for Naruto's face.

Naruto was too slow to jump completely out of the way, but was able to miss the brunt of the hit. Sasuke's fist grazed Naruto's cheekbone, leaving the latter open for a roundhouse-kick to the ribs. This time, Naruto jumped out of the way, leaping onto Sasuke from above, leg outstretched.

Sakura wanted to yell tips at Naruto, realizing how poor his fighting techniques were. He was only able to keep up with Sasuke because of his ridiculous resilience. If he was forced to rely on his wits or skill, he'd be creamed. Getting antsy watching the boys fight, Sakura realized that she didn't need to sit on the sidelines. She had become so used to letting the boys do whatever while she cheered them on uselessly because they were so out of her league. They weren't any more. Not by a long shot.

"I'm joining in!" She announced proudly, cracking her knuckles.

"Are you sure Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, looking worriedly at the girl.

"Sure as hell." Sakura replied, jumping into the fray. "And I'm not going easy on you two."

"I'd expect no less." Sasuke stated, surprising himself _and_ Sakura.

Sakura followed Sasuke's movements expertly, dodging his punches and blocking his kicks. She loved the added challenge of Naruto's spontaneity and did her best to predict his next move.

In the spur of the moment, she ducked to the ground and thrust the edge of her palm into the back of Sasuke's knee, causing him to stumble forward. Utilizing that momentum, she jumped behind him and pushed him into the unassuming Naruto, knocking both of them over.

"I win!" Sakura chuckled, smiling at the fallen heap of Sasuke and Naruto.

"That was a cheap move." Sasuke shook his head.

"No move is cheap as long as it gets its desired effect!" Sakura laughed again, reveling in her victory.

"Let's go back to Tsunami's." Naruto suggested, visibly proud of Sakura.

Sakura didn't know what she did to deserve a friend like Naruto. His unconditional, brotherly love was more than she could ever ask for and his unrelenting optimism brightened even her darkest days. She praised every god and being above for giving her the chance to see Naruto in his purest, happiest state again.

* * *

Sakura was happy to see Kakashi awake and sitting at the dinner table.

"You woke up!" She exclaimed happily, sliding onto a cushion on the opposite side of the table. "How do you feel?"

"Aren't you quite the young medic." Kakashi chuckled. "I'm fine Sakura-chan. I've had worse."

"Any pain in the head, bones, or muscles?" Sakura inquired, disregarding Kakashi's assurance that he was fine.

"No, no." Kakashi shook his head, his one visible eye crinkling. "I told you already. I'm fine."

"She won't take no for an answer." Sasuke entered the conversation, smirking at his female teammate. "She'll probably just bug you until you say that you have a faint pain in you pinky toe."

Kakashi looked surprised to say the least. "That's the only time I've ever heard you say anything remotely comical." He stared intently at the Uchiha. "Are you feeling okay?"

Sasuke wasn't sure how to answer that question. Yes, he was physically okay. He was also mentally okay; more so, strangely, than he had ever been. His cold, broken façade was slowly melting, and he couldn't deny that he liked it. Ever since his teammates made it obvious how much they cared for him, especially Sakura, he suddenly felt so open. With the openness though, he could feel the repressed painful memories of his childhood seeping through the cracks in his hard exterior. It was so strange, but he wanted to speak to someone. Then he remembered something. At the time, he hadn't cared much, but now he did. Who on _earth_ would Sakura want to save from succumbing to darkness? She was the privileged, civilian-born, only child who had never experienced any serious hardships in her thirteen years of living. Perhaps, if Sasuke bribed Sakura with his painful past (it was for information, not because he wanted to get stuff off his chest), she'd tell him about the strange someone.

"Meet me in the forest tonight." Sasuke stated, retiring to his shared bedroom.

Sakura looked confusedly at Sasuke but shrugged off the feeling. He was a strange person, no doubt. Recently she had been wondering why she hadn't mentioned the fact that she was a time traveler to anyone. On the surface, it seemed to be the intelligent thing to do, especially if she told the Hokage; he would be able to protect her and take all of the necessary precautions in order to avoid the terrible future she had suffered through. Still, she wanted people to treat her like a thirteen year-old again. Since she'd travelled back, a weight had been lifted off of her chest. Suddenly she was allowed to have fun and laugh and the world didn't suck. Also, if she told the Hokage about her future, he'd be suspicious of Sasuke; though Sakura knew it would probably be the best if someone kept tabs on the Uchiha, she just wanted him to be happy more than anything else. That's all she ever wanted. Sakura smiled contentedly to herself and walked into the kitchen.

"Do you need any help with dinner?" She asked Tsunami, happily inhaling the aroma of steamy miso soup.

"Not now, Sakura-chan, but I'd love help with the dishes. Unless you've got plans for tonight." Tsunami smiled, ruffling the girl's hair affectionately.

"I'm going on a-a walk tonight!" She ad libbed, "Yes a walk! So I'll just do the dishes really fast. Yep."

"It's the Uchiha boy isn't it?" Tsunami goaded, glancing suggestively at Sakura, "I see the way you look at him."

"Oh, no no no!" Sakura waved her hands in front of her face in a flustered manner. "I'm genuinely just going for a walk! Really!"

"Sure Sakura-chan." Tsunami winked at her before turning back to the steaming pot.

"On an unrelated note," Sakura started, changing the subject, "you should have Naruto tend to your garden. He's got a real green thumb."

"That silly, impulsive boy?" Tsunami giggled.

"That's the one."

"I would have never expected. I'll take your advice though."

Sakura smiled at Tsunami and made her way to her bedroom, passing Sasuke on the way. Somehow, in all of her years of knowing Sasuke, she'd never really seen what he did when he wasn't with his teammates. Surreptitiously, she snuck a glance into Sasuke's room; upon seeing him, head resting on his fist, staring blankly at the wall, Sakura wasn't sure if she should feel sad or confused. Sasuke wasn't doing _anything_. He looked so empty and cold, Sakura could feel the aura from where she stood. She wanted to stand there and decode him, perform a thorough dialysis of his expression and position; he was such an enigma and Sakura was entranced. Before she could begin to unpack the labyrinth of confusion that was Sasuke, she heard a bright, familiar voice.

"Whatcha doing Sakura-chan?" Naruto inquired, his voice bubbly.

Sakura hid her surprise well. "Just heading to my bedroom. What have you been up to?"

"Well…" He began sheepishly, "You know those books you told me to return?"

Sakura raised her eyebrow, knowing what Naruto was going to say.

"Well I forgot to return them. Well, I didn't forget, but it just takes me so long to read them ya know! I need extra time!"

"You can renew them Naruto." Sakura sighed, patting the Uzumaki on the back. "It's okay. I'm sure you didn't know. How 'bout I help you understand them?"

"That sounds fabulous!" Naruto exclaimed, leading Sakura to the living room.

Naruto placed Konoha History A-Z on the table in front of him, opening to the page he was on. "Well, there are some words I don't know, and sometimes the letters just move around on the page. It's weird."

"No one ever helped you with this in the academy?" Sakura asked incredulously. Naruto shook his head. "That's terrible!"

"I dunno…" Naruto shrugged apprehensively, "The only teacher that paid any attention to me was Iruka-sensei."

"Well, I'm going to help you now." Sakura announced. "Can you read this page aloud to me?"

"Okay. Konoha was… founded by Hashirama Senju and his friend Madara Uchiha. P-previously?" Naruto glanced at Sakura, silently asking if he pronounced the word correctly. Sakura nodded. "Previously, Hashirama and Madara were members of enemy clans and fought often. After they both suffered...serious losses, they banded together and founded Konoha. Unfortunately, Madara defected? What does that mean, Sakura-chan?"

"It means to abandon something or turn against it." Sakura replied, "In this case Madara turned against the village."

"Oh, thanks!" Naruto smiled, "Hashirama… confronted Madara and fought him, emerging successful. He was then viewed as the God of Shinobi."

"That was really good Naruto!" Sakura commended. "Though this history book is slightly sparse when it comes to details. Try to read as much of it as you can, but don't be afraid to ask me about things you don't understand."

"I sure will Sakura-sensei!" Naruto chuckled, grinning at Sakura with bright blue eyes.

"Don't call me that." Sakura gave Naruto an affectionate push. "I like Sakura-chan a lot better."

"Okay then, Sakura-chan. Imma go read!"9

"You do that Naruto." Sakura skipped back to her room, savoring her good mood. If she remembered correctly, she had spent the entirety of the wave mission in fear in her past life; this was a good change. Hopefully, the rest of her new life would go just as well.

 **A/N: Here's a new chapter for ya! There may be a bit of a wait between this one and the next one because I have a violin concert coming up! Honestly, I'm** **hella nervous and I need to practice like crazy; I'll try to update ASAP, but you never know.**


	8. Chapter 8

Sakura gazed confusedly at the text in front of her. At the moment, she was attempting to learn some new jutsu since she had never been particularly proficient in elemental styles in her past life. Now, she realized why; for some reason, Sakura couldn't follow the logic behind the jutsus. How was she supposed to combine her two chakra natures if they were so different in character? Water was free and flowing, while earth was rigid and strong; independently, Sakura knew how to utilize the two, but together? That was a completely different kettle of fish. Thoroughly fed up, she slammed her book onto the desk and stood up, deciding to blow off some steam.

* * *

The forest outside Tazuna's house was sprawling and green, casting comforting shadows on the soft, grassy floor. A cool breeze caressed the tall trees and combed its gentle fingers through Sakura's hair; taking deep breaths, Sakura contemplated her plans for the future.

At the moment, Sakura didn't want to change anything too drastically in fear that she'd change more than she already had. Since Zabuza already seemed weaker and had come earlier, Sakura worried about what that would mean for the future. Still, she needed to make some changes; the chunin exams, for instance, required a lot of editing. Whatever happened, Sakura could not allow for Sasuke to get the curse mark from Orochimaru. Worst case scenario, Sakura would intercept the attack and contract the curse mark herself. That was only if she couldn't prevent it in any other way. Hopefully, she would never have to come to that.

Minutes passed in silence as Sakura relaxed against a tall tree, breathing deeply. Happily, she fiddled with several blades of grass, twisting and braiding them into ornate shapes and patterns. Still, she didn't speak, reveling in the quiet peacefulness of the forest.

Once the sun had begun to set, Sakura pushed herself to her feet and made her way back to Tazuna's home. Her stomach emitted a low rumble, informing her that it was time for dinner. A giddiness bubbled in the pit of her stomach when she remembered her upcoming meeting with Sasuke; what prompted the Uchiha to want to speak with her, she was unsure, but she was excited nonetheless. During these times, she almost missed her obnoxious inner voice, reciting romantic fantasies and swooning at Sasuke's every move. Still, she had killed off that voice long ago so that she could focus on more serious matters. Obviously, it hadn't returned when she traveled back in time.

* * *

Tsunami welcomed Sakura happily and ushered her into the kitchen when the rest of her team was sitting.

"Hi Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted bouncing in his seat. "While you were gone, I finished a whole chapter of Konoha History A-Z!"

"That's great Naruto!" Sakura congratulated her friend. "What was it about?"

"I was reading about the third shinobi war." He tapped his chin pensively. "The book talked about the battles and how even the genin and chunin had to fight! That's pretty messed up, right?"

"Yeah." Sakura agreed solemnly, remembering how children had to fight in the fourth shinobi war as well.

"Anyway, the war seemed hella scary 'cause people were dying all the time and you never knew when you'd be attacked."

"That is how war works." Sakura nodded, her voice laden with a gravitas far to heavy for her current age.

"You seem to know a lot about war." Kakashi added with a hint of suspicion in his voice.

"I've read about it." Sakura replied nonchalantly, "I read a lot about it because it terrifies me and I want to know what to avoid."

Kakashi's sole visible eye crinkled as he patted Sakura on the head. "You're too young to be thinking about things like this. Be happier."

Kakashi didn't like when Sakura was serious or when she addressed real issues. That was supposed to be the job of the boys, while she sat innocently behind them. He knew it was a terrible thing to think, but he didn't want Sakura to be strong enough or have enough potential to become a first-rate shinobi; one that would serve on the front lines. She was far too fragile for that kind of dirty work. Or was _Rin_ too fragile? Was Kakashi projecting his old feelings about his teammate on Sakura? Probably, but it made Kakashi feel better, so he wasn't going to stop.

As if reading his mind, Sakura piped-up. "If Naruto or Sasuke were to say what I said, you'd delve into an in depth discussion with them, wouldn't you." She sent an accusatory look at her sensei, which was reciprocated with absolute blankness.

"Do you think so lowly of me, Sakura-chan?" Kakashi replied, somewhat monotonously.

Sakura didn't answer, but she got the information she needed. Of course Kakashi thought she was too fragile to understand serious business or real shinobi issues; she hadn't done a great job proving that she was strong enough in her past life or earlier years. A pathetic fangirl clad in an impractical pink dress wasn't your first candidate for the front lines.

Hoping to break the tension, Tsunami came bustling out of the kitchen with a large platter of food in her hands.

"I hope you're hungry!" She announced, setting the platter down on the table. "I wasn't sure what food you'd like, so I made a bit of everything." She turned to the hallway. "Inari! It's time for dinner!"

The young boy came sulking down the hall, flopping dramatically onto a chair. The fact that the boy was simply _angsty_ had slipped Sakura's mind as she had only remembered his braver, sweeter side. Now, she was annoyed by him. Suddenly, the significance of a certain question popped into Sakura's head; turning towards a picture sitting atop a cabinet, she looked at Tsunami questioningly.

"It seems like part of that picture was ripped off." She pointed out. "Why?"

"Ah." Tsunami quickly donned a forlorn look. "He was Inari's father… in a sense." She paused and sighed sadly. "He was the hero of this village."

"There are no heroes." Inari snarked. "Even you ninja can't do anything. You're just pretending."

"Hey!" Naruto interjected. "We're totally gonna be heroes! You're just a baby and a coward if you don't think you situation can be fixed. Believe it!"

Tears of anger began to pour down Inari's face. Glaring one last time at Naruto, he stormed from the table and out of the kitchen.

"I'm so sorry for Naruto's behavior." Kakashi quickly apologized. "I suppose Inari just hit on a bit of a _touchy_ subject for him."

"I'm still here you know." Naruto hissed, crossing his arms.

"It's okay." Tazuna's consoled. "Really, I think he needed someone to tell him as much."

"The dinner was delicious Tsunami-san." Sakura smiled sweetly at the woman. "I'll handle the dishes."

"You're such a sweet girl." Tsunami purred, handing Sakura her plate. "You really don't have to you know."

"It's the least I can do. You've been so very hospitable."

Placing the dishes in the sink, Sakura began to wipe the grime off of them with a sponge. The upcoming meeting with Sasuke lurked in the back of her mind, sending butterflies into her stomach. He was so different than his past self, Sakura couldn't help but feel as if she had done something wrong. Of course, she knew that he was in a mentally better place, but change was always a difficult pill to swallow; time travel was a hard pill to swallow as well, but that one was so absurdly big it was easier to lose in its own incredulity. Quickly, she finished washing the dishes, dried her hands on the checkered tea towel adjacent to the sink, and hurried out the door into the forest to the side of the house. A smile blossomed on her face when she sensed Sasuke's tell-tale chakra a couple hundred feet away.

"You came." Sasuke stated, acknowledging her existence.

"I did." Sakura shuffled on her feet uncomfortably, "So, uh… what'd you call me here for?"

Sasuke motioned for her to sit on the log beside him. Apprehensively, Sakura lowered her body next to him, keeping a healthy distance. "You said something, a while ago." He began, looking unfazed. "Something about you not allowing someone to fall into the darkness. Who was that?"

Sakura cursed her bad planning. She didn't have any answer for that question other than explaining her entire complicated scenario to Sasuke and that was certainly not the route she would like to take. "I-it's really not important." Sakura insisted, looking away from Sasuke's harsh gaze.

"If I tell you about my past, will you tell me about whatever the hell is going on?" Sasuke crossed his arms and leaned backwards in attempt to appear not-caring.

Sakura grinned. Sasuke was finally opening up to her; whatever his intentions may be, she wasn't going to pass up this offer. "Sure." She agreed. "You have to start though."

"Well, you know of the Uchiha massacre." Sasuke looked down at his feet uncomfortably for a second before meeting Sakura's gaze. "My brother killed my family."

Sakura nodded. Of course she already knew that; everyone did. She let out in inaudible sigh, hoping that she'd actually hear some new information.

"And I really l-loved my brother before the incident." Sasuke stumbled over the word 'love' as if it was foreign to him. "That's essentially it."

Sakura wanted press him for more, but she knew that Sasuke had opened up substantially. Though she didn't receive any new information, she didn't expect Sasuke to recount every emotion he ever had. In fact, Sasuke was taking large steps in the direction of 'actual friend'.

"Now your turn." Sasuke looked at her imploringly. "Who is this person you're trying to 'save'?"

"He's a-a…" Sakura hesitated. "An old friend."

"From when? It's not like you've been around for a particularly long amount of time."

"When I was younger and into when I was in the Academy," Sakura lied, making up a story as she went, "there was this guy who would teach me things and uh, act like a friend. He had an interest in forbidden jutsus but at the time I, uh, I couldn't do anything about it. Now I want to find him and stop him."

Sasuke nodded slowly. "We're similar."

"I suppose we are." Sakura agreed.

 **A/N: I'm so sorry for the ridiculously long wait! My concert went very well and I will have a lot more time to update now. I was dealing with a brief bout of writers block, but I have recovered and I am now filled with glorious motivation! In other words, I promise to update more frequently now.**

 **INFINITY WAR SPOILER WARNING (kinda)**

 **On an unrelated note, has anyone seen Infinity War?! I did and I DIED. I'm a huge Marvel fan and my favorite characters are Thor, Gamora, Loki, and Spider-Man. Obviously I suffered A LOT. I started writing some one-shots with Thor and Loki's brotherly love so check that out if you want to. Also, I'd love to rant with anyone about the happenings of Infinity Wars, so please feel free!**

 **Please favorite, review, and enjoy!**


	9. Chapter 9

Sasuke nodded slowly. "We're similar."

"I suppose we are." Sakura agreed.

The silence between the two quickly became awkward; Sakura giggled uncomfortably as she would have done when she was younger.

"What's funny?" Sasuke implored.

"It's nothing, really!" Sakura shook her head with embarrassment. "It's just a thing I do to break awkward silences. Not to say that the awkward silence was your fault, of course! It's just a subconscious thing I do; I could have initiated the silence!"

Sasuke looked at her with a single eyebrow raised. She was rambling nervously as she tended to do. Still, Sasuke didn't find it as annoying as he used to; now he understood Sakura's reasons for rambling. She didn't do it because she wanted to talk that much and irritate him, no she did it for the same reason that he blocked people out. She did it because she didn't know how to get through to a person. "We should go back." Sasuke stated dryly. He didn't want to convey too much emotion, as always.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Sakura agreed. "Let's go then." Pushing herself to her feet, she followed Sasuke through the dark forest and back towards Tazuna's house.

* * *

Naruto waited patiently at the steps of the house. There were very few things he hated more than being left out; especially by his two best friends. Would it have killed them to invite him? Even if they'd yell at him he'd be happy; as long as he wasn't lonely. Still, Naruto refused to be sad. He would take this in stride and be ebullient and happy. Wallowing in sorrow achieves nothing.

Naruto spotted two incipient figures. Plastering his best smile on his face, he jogged towards them.

"Teme, Sakura-chan!" He exclaimed, "What's up? What were you guys doing?"

"Nothing much, Naruto." Sakura brushed off his question, "We should all get to bed though. It's pretty late. I hear Kakashi-sensei has something in store for us tomorrow."

"I was thinking we could talk ab-" Naruto started.

Sasuke was having none of it. He had done enough talking to last him a lifetime. "Let's just go to bed Naruto."

"Yeah. Okay then. I'll see you all tomorrow then." He muttered, trodding dejectedly back to his room. Mentioning the topic to Sasuke and Sakura the following day would be useless, Naruto was sure; quickly, he deemed that the best solution was to completely forget about the event.

* * *

Sakura woke up the next morning, far more tired than she would have hoped. Groggily, she made her way to the kitchen where Naruto was fully passed out, his head on the table.

"Naruto," Sakura muttered, poking her friend lightly, "wake up. We have to eat."

"Go away…" Naruto whined, hiding his head in-between his arms, "I don't wanna wake up!"

"If you wake up now, you'll be up before Sasuke." Sakura goaded, sitting down next to Naruto.

Naruto's head popped up abruptly. "I'm up! I'm up! You can vouch for me Sakura-chan, right?!"

"Of course Naruto. Now let's eat breakfast."

"Haha, I can rub this in Sasuke-teme's face for all of eternity! I'm more punctual than him! This is amazing!"

"It's incredible how quickly you perk up…" Sakura chuckled to herself.

Sasuke entered the room several minutes later, fully dressed.

"Teme! I was up before you!" Naruto exclaimed, pointing his finger at Sasuke, "Sakura-chan can totally vouch for me!"

"I don't care." Sasuke shrugged, sitting on the opposite side of the table. "Get serious. We're training today so that we can put up a fight when Zabuza comes back."

"I don't know man, Kakashi pretty much whooped his ass the first time." Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "It's his little teammate we gotta worry about ya know."

"You can't let your guard down." Sasuke chided, glaring at Naruto, "You have to take this _seriously_."

"Woah man, I am. I'm just saying, our chances look good."

"You never actually know the chances!" Sasuke spat, his sharingan flashing for a second.

"Calm down!" Sakura exclaimed, meeting Sasuke's gaze, "I agree that we can't let our guard down, but that doesn't mean you can lose your everloving shit!"

"I thought you understood." Sasuke shook his head and looked down at his food.

"I-" Sakura stopped herself, "whatever. Look, we have to get along. We're a team!"

"Stop trying to always fix things, Sakura." Sasuke mumbled, "It's not your job."

"God every time I think I get somewhere with you, you find a way to make things worse! I'm sorry for everything that happened, but you can't use that as an excuse to act like an asshole. Especially not towards the people that care about you."

"What did I just say?" Sasuke didn't spare Sakura a look. "Don't tell me what to do."

Sakura groaned and dug into her breakfast.

"Oh you're already up?" Kakashi shuffled into the dining room and sat right next to Sasuke. "Boy, do I have a lot in store for you today!"

"Good." Sakura grinned, "I hope it's hard."

"Well you don't have to over-exert yourself Sakura-chan." Kakashi said, wrinkling his one visible eye.

"What if I want to, sensei?" Sakura retorted, gritting her teeth.

"Well, I suppose I can't stop you, but really, there's no need."

"Can you please take me as seriously as you take the boys?"

Kakashi looked taken-aback. "Are you sure you want that?"

"I'm incredibly sure."

Kakashi nodded slowly, "Fine. You're going to train the exact same way the boys will."

* * *

Kakashi leaned on his crutch and pointed at the trees in front of him. "You will be climbing trees."

"Psh, that's easy!" Naruto exclaimed, "I climbed trees all the time in the academy when I was running away from kids who wanted to hurt me!"

"That is incredibly sad to hear, Naruto." Sakura sighed, shaking her head, "Your academy years were pretty rough, huh?"

"Uh, I guess?" Naruto replied.

"Anyway," Kakashi interrupted, "You will be climbing these trees without your hands. With only chakra."

"Oh." Naruto moved close to Sakura, "Can you explain chakra to me, Sakura-chan?" he whispered.

Quickly, Sakura gave Naruto an explanation.

"Thanks!"

"Go! Try it!" Kakashi commanded.

Immediately, Sasuke ran at the tree, getting up about three feet before falling back to the ground. Of course, he landed with cat-like grace. Next, Naruto tried, forgetting to plant his foot on the bark and just running face first into the tree. Sakura sighed and tried it for herself. It was easy, as she expected. She made her way up the tree slowly, making sure she didn't look _too_ comfortable.

"This is pretty easy, sensei!" She grinned, sitting on the top branch.

"Ah, would you look at that." Kakashi pointed out, his excitement far from convincing. "Sakura-chan is the best at chakra-control. Well, you can go back to Tazuna's now. You've outdone the boys."

"Kakashi-sensei, you knew I'd be able to do this." Sakura accused, "I'm not going home. Teach me the next step."

"This isn't like you to act so assertive." Kakashi raised his eyebrow, eyeing Sakura suspiciously.

"You've been my sensei for only a few months. Trust me, you'll learn a lot more about me."

 **A/N: I know it's been** ** _months_** **since an update, but I just started** **high school (yes, I'm young) and it's been quite the transition. Anyway, my interest in Naruto has been wavering lately, but after watching a few episodes of Boruto, I became so incensed about how overpowered Boruto is that I had to work some of my own stories. Anyways, here's a chapter!**


	10. Chapter 10

"You've been my sensei for only a few months. Trust me, you'll learn a lot more about me."

"I'll learn a lot about you?" Kakashi half-chuckled, "Okay then. I'll be sure to look out for that."

Sakura opened her mouth to call-out Kakashi's patronizing tone, but quickly closed it, not wanting to start a fight.

"So you want to learn the next step?" Kakashi implored, ignoring the boys as they tumbled from the tall trees.

"Yes." Sakura stated confidently, "I want to get ahead."

"You're already much stronger than I expected." Kakashi sighed, "Why do you feel the need to try even harder?"

"Because I have people to protect, Kakashi!" Sakura exclaimed angrily.

"You dropped the suffix, Sakura-chan." Kakashi looked at Sakura suspiciously, his eye shooting metaphorical lasers at her, "Was it a freudian slip?"

"W-what do you even mean?" Sakura fumbled over her words, panic beginning to set in, "I just got….overwhelmed."

"Alright…" Kakashi gave her one more skeptical look before turning back to the boys in the trees. Without sparing Sakura a look he spoke to her. "If you feel the need to advance, walk on water."

"So, no instruction?" Sakura implored, her voice dripping with annoyance, "I'll just….learn myself?"

She got no reply. Letting out a sigh, she walked over to the small pond by the trees. Of course, she knew _conceptually_ how to walk on water. She'd gone over many drills and fallen into a myriad of lakes, but with her body in the state that it was in, walking on water without difficulty was a tall order. Thankfully, she wasn't supposed to get it down on the first try; exceeding in the difficult skill of water-walking on her first try would be unfathomable. She doubted an Uchiha could succeed on their first try. Before she could take a stab at the technique, Sasuke approached her.

"Hey, what's up?" She started, surprised that it was Sasuke talking to her and not Naruto.

"How did you get up the tree so easily?" He looked at Sakura confusedly, scanning her from head to toe.

Sakura looked at Sasuke skeptically. She decided that Sasuke didn't understand that you couldn't completely dismiss someone and insult them then ask for their help disrespectfully hours later. Sakura was sure someone had taught him basic manners at some point, since he was part of the Uchiha head family; apparently, he'd forgotten them all. "It's all a balance, you see." Sakura started, "If you release too much chakra into your feet, you will break the bark of the tree and fall off. If you don't release enough, you won't make a connection. You have to find the midpoint between the two where your weight is supported and you have the perfect amount of contact with the tree. Naruto will likely be the worst at it because he has so much chakra. The more chakra, the harder it is to control."

"That's why it's so easy for you." Sasuke noted.

"Rude, but I'm not going to deny it. I have a feeling that your chakra control could be very good if you work at it. You should consider learning healing jutsu."

"Me? A healer?" Sasuke scoffed, "I'm meant for the front lines of battle."

"Don't be so closed-minded." Sakura chided Sasuke, "Think about Lady Tsunade. Because of her mitotic regeneration jutsu, she can fight in the front lines _and_ heal. Doesn't that sound amazing?"

"Tsunade is _your_ inspiration. I'll find my own." Sasuke replied, shooting down Sakura's idea without hesitation.

"Who said we can't share a role model? Think about how useful healing jutsu could be. You could save your teammates lives."

Sasuke opened his mouth to respond but found himself at a lack for words. He would never say this to Sakura's face, but healing jutsu was for the _weak_. It was for those who stayed behind in battle and cried. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he believed that healing jutsu was for women. Sure Tsunade was strong, but she was an exception. Sasuke wasn't sure if he was talented enough in chakra control to become and exception.

"I know what you're thinking." Sakura said, breaking Sasuke out of his reverie, "You think healing jutsu is for women."

Sasuke was taken aback for a moment before he tried to fake a scoff. "I would never-"

"No, no, it's not your fault. The idea that women are weak healers is a concept that society feeds everyone. In reality, society is afraid of what will happen when women are given equal opportunities. As much as they beg to differ, they know, somewhere deep inside them, that women can do just as much _if not more_ that a man."

"Sure, whatever, I don't doubt it." Sasuke rolled his eyes, "By saying that I thought healing jutsu was for women, you were putting words in my mouth."

"Oh, was I?" Sakura implored, staring at him straight in the eye, "I guess I just misunderstood your patronizing look. Anyway, go tell what I told you about chakra control to Naruto. He needs the extra help."

"Why would I do that?" Sasuke looked incredulously at Sakura.

"Because, no matter how threatened you feel by Naruto, this isn't a competition. We're a team, and for us to function well, we all need the same opportunities and we need to _support_ each other."

"Tch." Sasuke huffed, walking back towards the trees. Sakura was sure he would relay the information to Naruto, though. Despite Sasuke's indifferent façade, Sakura knew that if there was one thing Sasuke cared about, it was the strength of team seven.

Sighing, Sakura began to walk towards the water. Carefully, she placed her dominant left foot onto the waves. The foot bobbed nicely on top, though she could tell that she would not be able to hold her weight. Noticing Kakashi's watchful eye, she decided that she should get a good fail in so that she wouldn't seem to suspicious. Bracing her body for the icy-cold plunge, she put all of her weight onto her left foot and promptly fell into the pond. Shivering, she stepped onto the shore and took off her flowy, red dress, leaving only her tank-top underneath. Sakura steadied her breath and took another stab at water walking. This time, she didn't fail deliberately. She stayed atop the water's surface for about three seconds before losing control and toppling into the pond once again. Finally acknowledging Sakura's serious attempt, Kakashi ambled over to the pond.

"Looking damp, Sakura-chan." He joked, "I must say, I'm impressed with how quickly you've caught on to the concept of water-walking."

"I've read about it." Sakura stated, and she wasn't lying. As a genin, she read books on every jutsu she could imagine. Regrettably, she never attempted to put any of her myriad book-smarts to practical use until she received a nasty wake-up call in the form of Sasuke's untimely departure.

"Yes, but let me give you some pointers."

Sakura listened on attentively, re-learning a lesson she had learned years ago. She remembered all the tips and all of the advice. Sakura didn't have any problems _fundamentally_. What she needed to work on was executing a skill she had mastered in a lighter, weaker, smaller body. "Thank you Kakashi-sensei." Sakura said sincerely.

Smiling at her sensei, she stepped on the water again, taking her current body weight and chakra amount into account. Since her chakra level was so abysmal at the moment, concentrating it was actually easier than she had expected. Carefully, she took several tentative steps across the surface of the water. Precariously, she was able to walk well into the middle of the small lake before plunging into the (still frigid!) water. Her body was not as pathetic as she had initially thought. Sakura was beginning to realize how little advantage she took of her physical skills as a genin. Yes, she wasn't particularly buff, and yes, her chakra reserves were small, but she had brimming potential that she never tapped until too late. No. It wasn't that she neglected to tap into it, it's that her senseis and peers neglected to encourage her. She was taught to be the girl on the sidelines. Her weakness was _encouraged_. Sakura wouldn't deny that she could have taken her improvement into her own hands with the right motivation, but her male peers didn't have to. They were taught to be strong and their improvement was encouraged. For Sakura, improvement was strange. A woman who possessed confidence in their own skill was viewed as arrogant and _odd_. It was the reason that Tsunade harbored the ill will of so many.

Sakura swam back to the shore and wrung the excess water from her hair. She focused her mind on the task at hand again and stepped onto the surface. The waves undulated gently below Sakura's sandaled foot, creating a touch of imbalance. Acknowledging this, she adjusted her body to the constant movement of the water, following it instead of fighting it. Relaxing her body and only expending the exact amount of chakra necessary, she walked across the lake, breathing in rhythm with the ebb and flow of the gentle waves. With grace, she walked across the entire lake. If she hadn't already achieved this, Sakura would be jumping for joy. In fact, she probably should to keep up her inconspicuity.

"Kakashi-sensei!" She exclaimed with well-feigned excitement, "Did you see that? I walked across the entire lake!"

"Do it again." Kakashi insisted, turning towards her.

With a firm nod, Sakura walked across again, retaining her poise. "See?" She grinned, "I told you I could do it."

Kakashi nodded, "I am impressed." With that, he turned back to Naruto and Sasuke.

Despite his seeming dismissal of her achievements, Sakura was pleased. At the moment, she knew that Kakashi's reaction was actually incredibly emotive. He was probably reconsidering her after her display; oh yes, Sakura was pleased.

 **A/N: Sorry for the filler-ish chapters! I want to get to canon soon, but I really need to develop Sakura's mental state as well as the states of the other characters. I promise to add a little** **fighty-fighty content in the next chapter.**

 **Wowee y'all. It's 2019. That means that it's been pretty much a year since I started this and I promise I will finish this eventually. Hopefully I won't take more multi-month breaks during which I'm in fandom-limbo... Regardless, I'm so incredibly thankful for all of your support. Every time I see a review, I just feel so happy! I'll do my best to keep updating, and I hope y'all just enjoy it.**

 **Feel free to point out any discrepancies in the story line/spelling/grammar. It really helps me since I'm a young writer.**

 **To a fabulous 2019! ~Ashi**


	11. Chapter 11

Sakura couldn't fall asleep. She knew that team seven would have to fight Zabuza the next day and her nerves were keeping her awake. For what felt like hours, she tossed and turned, clenching and unclenching her muscles. Finally, she drifted off into a light, fitful sleep.

Her dreams were riddled with memories of the final war. Quickly, her mind drifted to the moment in which she learned the jutsu that had landed her in this _precarious_ position.

 _Tsunade grit her teeth, preparing to explain the complicated jutsu to her pupil._

" _Sakura, I'm so sorry to place this burden on you." She preceded her lesson with a statement of sincere regret, "You are the only one I can trust with this."_

 _Sakura nodded in solemn agreement. "Let's skip the formalities, please. I need to learn the jutsu and paint the seals. Who knows when the need for this will arise?"_

" _Anytime," Tsunade whispered, her words stopping in her throat. "I should have killed him."_

" _That snake will die soon," Sakura spat, adjusting her loose clothing to better cover her lean figure. In all reality, she was becoming rather thin due to the rationing of goods. Trade and import was not an option in the current political climate, giving the Konoha farmers the sole responsibility of feeding the entire village. No, they were not prepared nor was there enough food._

" _You know basic fuinjutsu, correct?" Tsunade began to mix the ink for the seals, stirring the small pot with a thin, gilded paintbrush._

 _Sakura nodded. "Basic seals and summoning methods."_

" _Good enough," Tsunade sighed through clenched teeth, "If this goes wrong, please forgive me."_

" _Do not worry about my life," Sakura kept her gaze on the floor, refusing to display any form of weakness or sadness. She had cried enough already for a lifetime._

 _Forming several hand-signs, Tsunade began to paint seals onto Sakura's body with needle-point accuracy. Her hands possessed all of the steadiness characteristic of a surgeon and her body remained still, yet not rigid. Quickly, Sakura was covered from head to toe in curving, spiraling calligraphy._

" _Now it's your turn." Tsunade placed the brush back in the ink, letting out a long awaited sigh, "Perform the hand-signs I taught you."_

 _Closing her eyes for concentration, Sakura formed a ram sign, focusing her chakra. Once she was emanating a blue light, her hands flew the rest of the signs with well-practiced perfection. The seals on her body lit up in a dull light and faded into her skin. Overcome with a wave of exhaustion, she collapsed to her knees, panting._

" _Breathe." Sakura heard Tsunade somewhere far away-or very close; she was unsure. "Breathe Sakura!"_

 _Finally steadying her breath, the world came back into focus. Drained of every ounce of energy, Sakura lay supine on the floor gazing blankly at the ceiling._

" _When do I use it?" She gasped out._

" _When all hope is lost."_

It was the early morning when Sakura jolted awake. Her muscles ached from the workout yesterday and her chakra reserves were not quite full as of yet. Regardless, she had no time for recovery. She was going to fight today. Her dream had reminded her that she was in this timeline to _fix_ the world, not to have as little impact as possible. It was time for her to start changing things.

Sakura walked confidently into the dining room, fully dressed, her kunai pouch filled to the rim with as many sharp projectiles as she could possibly fit.

"Good morning," She announced, taking a seat on a cushion, "How did you sleep, Tsunami?"

"Well, thank you!" Tsunami replied, her voice sweet and crisp, "I made soup."

"Thank you," Sakura said gratefully, accepting the steaming bowl that Tsunami was holding in front of her face.

"I hear your training was quite intense yesterday." Tsunami began to make small talk, still bustling about in the kitchen.

"Yeah," Sakura agreed between greedy sips, "Kakashi really didn't hold back."

"You know, I always wanted to be a ninja." Tsunami muttered, almost to herself.

"Why didn't you?"

"My family didn't have the money and I was expected to keep the house and care for my siblings."

"Oh." Sakura grimaced, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be!" Tsunami chuckled, "I don't mind this life! It's just great to see such powerful young shinobi these days. Makes me happy."

Sakura chuckled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm glad."

A few minutes later, Sasuke entered the kitchen, his shoulders lacking the characteristic tension that Sakura had become accustomed to.

"You slept well?" Sakura deduced, shooting him a gentle smile.

"Hn." Sasuke sat down next to her, accepting a bowl of miso soup, "Do you know what Kakashi is going to have us do today?"

"I think we're guarding the bridge for real."

"I'm glad we're finally getting back to our real job."

Sakura nodded uncomfortably. Though she wasn't afraid of changing too much now, she was worried that the slightest change in the timeline could kill Sasuke for good this time. He hovered on the line between life and death the last time he fought Haku; Sakura was unsure if he was stronger this time, given Sasuke's closed nature. She truly had no idea what he had in store.

"Where's Naruto?" Sasuke finally broke the tension that was manifesting in the silence.

"He seemed pretty beat by the time we got back yesterday. It may be a bit before he wakes up," Sakura shrugged, knowing full well that Naruto would show up at the last moment. Scratch that, she _expected_ Naruto to show up. With the uncharacteristic behavior of Haku, Sakura was reduced to mere speculation.

"Of course. Typical of the dobe," Sasuke huffed, taking small, elegant sips of his soup.

"He's motivated, I'll give him that." Sakura nodded, thinking fondly of Naruto. For all of his idiosyncrasies, he truly was an extraordinary ninja.

Sasuke huffed again, far too proud to give Naruto any credit, even where credit was deserved. "We can begin the job without him."

"I suppose we can," Sakura agreed, hoping against all hope that this timeline was similar enough to give her this.

* * *

Incipient dread stewed and boiled in Sakura's stomach. Every moment on the bridge brought her closer to the fight with Zabuza. So much remained in the air; the fight could be easier, perhaps, or it could be catastrophic. Either way would change the timeline enough for her to be entering events blind.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke frowned, looking at Sakura analytically. "You've gone pale."

"Oh, I guess I have," Sakura chuckled uncomfortably. "I genuinely don't know why."  
"Are you nervous for the mission today?" Sasuke continued to probe.

"I suppose," Sakura admitted. "The man we met on our way here, Zabuza, he worries me. He's a missing-nin and one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Shouldn't he be stronger?"

"Shouldn't you be grateful that he isn't?" Sasuke scowled at Sakura; he was growing suspicious.

"Yes, of course! I feel that he may have been holding back on our first encounter."

Sasuke nodded knowingly. "That is possible," he mused. "Why would he? If he had the chance to wipe us all out, why not do it as early as possible?"

"I have no idea," Sakura groaned. "We must prepare for the worst though!"

"Who's to say he'll even show up today? He may arrive now. Or tomorrow. We always have to be prepared. As a ninja, you should know that."

"Don't patronize me, Sasuke!" Sakura chastised. "I know full well that we must always be vigilant, but doesn't today sound like the perfect time to strike? Tazuna and his men are on the bridge, alone. Plus, if Zabuza really is everything that I've heard he is, the only person he'd have trouble with is Kakashi and I believe that Zabuza is willing to fight Kakashi. Not to mention the fake hunter-nin that acts as his ally! The opportunity is just too perfect."

"You didn't refer to Kakshi as 'sensei'." Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"You must be rubbing off on me," Sakura dismissed. "Anyway, you must agree that this instance is opportune!"

"I suppose." Suspicion did not leave Sasuke's face. "If we really are to be prepared for an attack, we should leave now. Without Naruto."

Sakura sighed, "Yeah, yeah. Get Kakashi-sensei."

* * *

Kakashi ushered Tazuna, Sasuke, and Sakura to the bridge, his demeanor surprisingly relaxed. As soon as they arrived, though, they discovered that the workers had been attacked.

"Someone has been here!" Sakura cried, reaching for a kunai in her pouch.

As soon as she uttered those words, a thick mist engulfed the bridge. The same one that team seven encountered earlier. This time, Sasuke stayed calm, taking deep breaths to ease his pounding heart. The killing intent was strong and overwhelming, but Sasuke made sure not to panic.

"Sakura!" Kakashi ordered, "Protect Tazuna!"

"Yes sensei!"

Before Sakura could get to Tazuna's side, two figures manifested in the fog.

"Kakashi of the sharingan," Zabuza growled. "We meet again."

Sakura noticed the strength that Zabuza held in his stance. He did not seem as defenseless as he had when team seven encountered him a few days prior. By his side stood the ever loyal Haku, his mask hiding his gentle facial features.

"I don't intend to make this meeting long," Kakashi replied, his tone casual. "See, my genin and I have this mission we were assigned and I think we'd all appreciate it if we could get home sooner than later."

Zabuza snarled and gripped the almost comically large sword at his waist. If Sakura did not know the destructive capabilities of the sword when wielded correctly, she would have laughed at the prospect of someone swinging it around, unable to hold the weight properly.

"Look," Kakashi sighed, "we don't have to be so violent here. If you just let our friend Tazuna build the bridge and you don't hurt him, I don't have to hurt you."

Tazuna frowned from his protected space behind Sakura. "You can see what this _monster_ did to my workers," he hissed. "He deserves to be hurt."

"I wouldn't be so loud," Sakura chastised, widening her stance and tightening the grip around her kunai as Zabuza turned to look at her.

"That's not very nice of you, Kakashi," Zabuza chuckled. "Leaving a defenseless little girl to guard the bridge-builder puts her in quite a bit of danger."

"She is a ninja," Kakashi smiled, his eye crinkling. "No one on my team is _defenseless_. Well it seems like you aren't backing down. Sasuke, you can take Haku all to yourself. Sakura, you know what to do."

Sakura frowned to herself. Of course she was still stuck guarding Tazuna. Even though she had exhibited improved skill, Kakashi hadn't seen enough to allow her to fight on the front lines with Sasuke.

Sasuke leapt into action, throwing several rapid-fire shuriken at Haku. The boy calmly avoided the projectiles, hopping from one foot to the next, landing soundlessly. Sasuke is lightning fast even without his sharingan, ducking and parrying every single one of Haku's blows. In such a situation, Sasuke would expect his opponent to grow frustrated after not landing a single blow, but Haku was unphased. And Sakura knew why. Ducking under a vicious kunai, Haku jumped backwards gracefully and began to weave complex hand-signs. Sasuke's eyes grew in confusion. He could not identify the incipient jutsu nor could he discern Haku's chakra nature. He was sensing water, but something about his chakra was off; Sasuke couldn't put a finger on it.

"Makyō hyōshō," Haku announces, his voice oddly calm for someone casting an incredibly rare jutsu.

Sakura was pushed back by the force of large ice mirrors manifesting. Crouching into a battle stance, she decided to take no time before going to rescue Sasuke. She took a stabilizing breath before gathering chakra into her fist and throwing a punch at the ice wall.

 _It's just ice,_ she thought in the moments before impact. _It's gotta break somehow._

As soon as her fist made contact with the ice, Sakura was thrown back by the force of the impact. Once she clambered to her feet, she noticed that she hadn't even made a dent.

"You've got to defeat him from the inside!" Sakura called to Sasuke from her limited vantage point outside the ice cage.

"I know that!" Sasuke's voice sounded pained.

Sakura wanted nothing more than to run into the enclosement and help Sasuke, but she couldn't leave Tazuna unguarded. She stood anxiously in front of Tazuna, finally deciding to do Sasuke a favor. She grabbed a kunai from her pouch and peered through the thin gap between two ice plates. If she was careful and stealthy, she could hit Haku with a kunai before he even noticed it coming. Sure, this maneuver didn't work in her past life, but if she channeled a little more chakra into the kunai to add speed, she may find her mark yet.

Haku caught the kunai yet again. "If I had seen that even half a second later, you would have hit me," he said loudly enough to be heard through thick sheets of ice. "I am impressed."

Suddenly, Sakura sensed a presence behind her; one that certainly did not belong to Tazuna.

"Tazuna, get in front of me!" Sakura exclaimed, striking the ground where Tazuna once stood as soon as the man was out of her way.

Zabuza leapt onto stable ground, narrowly avoiding Sakura's punch.

"You're quite a bit stronger than you look, little girl," Zabuza chuckled, his tone patronizing.

"Looks can be deceiving," Sakura huffed, sweeping her foot at Zabuza's legs.

The missing nin dodged the attack gracefully and swung his sword in a vicious arc towards Sakura's head. Spur of the moment, Sakura slapped her palms around the blade, stopping it from cutting through her cranium. This bought her enough time to roll out of the way, Zabuza's sword hitting the ground in a violent crunch. Zabuza attacked again, his sword whizzing past Sakura's ear as she barely dodged another attack. Before Zabuza could slice at her again, she slid close to Zabuza's abdomen and punched him right in the solar-plexus. The missing nin was sent flying backwards, but he caught himself before he hit the ground.

As soon as he was standing again, Kakashi appeared behind him, landing a solid roundhouse kick. Sakura sighed in relief, knowing that Zabuza was in good hands. She turned back to the ice prison, nearly cheering in joy to see Naruto slide inside the walls.

Sakura could vaguely make out Sasuke and Naruto arguing quietly. _A good sign,_ she surmised. Finally, she could make out the sound of air moving quickly and feet hitting the ground in a perfect, lightning fast rhythm. Whatever had happened with Sasuke and Naruto had allowed Sasuke to awaken his sharingan.

Still, Sakura was conflicted. Yes, it was necessary for Sasuke to awaken his sharingan as part of his personal growth, but knowing how much pain it gave him made Sakura's heart ache. But there was nothing she could do about it now.

Sakura stood by Tazuna, her eyes darting from side to side. Last time, Zabuza had attacked her at about this time–right after Sasuke realized his sharingan. But then again, Zabuza had already attacked. Perhaps everything was just happening sooner now. Before Sakura could dwell even more on the implications of time travel, an animalistic scream resounded from the ice prison. Yet again, Sakura sighed in relief. Everything that had to happen during this fight happened.

Naruto sent Haku flying through one of the mirrors, the prison finally broken. On the ground in the center was Sasuke, supine and unmoving. Hardening her emotions, Sakura turned away from Sasuke's body and jumped away from Haku, grabbing Tazuna by the wrist as she did.

Naruto stood by Haku, poised to strike again, but noticed that the boy's face had been revealed.

"You're the pretty one I saw in the forest," Naruto gasped.

"I'm nothing but a broken tool," Haku muttered, his raspy voice full of pain. "Kill me now, as I am no longer of use to Zabuza."

"Stop with the emo crap!" Naruto insisted. "Beating yourself up over losing once is for–well–losers."

Haku shook his head and indulged Naruto in his incredibly tragic life story. Why he felt like the heat of battle was a good time to rattle off about his suffering was beyond Sakura. Grabbing Tazuna again, she rushed to Sasuke's side. Hastily, Sakura checked for Sasuke's pulse, relieved to find it slow but certainly there. Placing steady hands over Sasuke's abdomen, she began to channel healing chakra into every burst capillary and pierced muscle. It was slow work, but it would save his life. Though Sasuke survived without emergency medical care the previous time, Sakura had a feeling that his wounds were worse this time.

As Sakura was about to finish healing Sasuke, she saw Haku run towards Kakashi and Zabuza. Sakura knew exactly what was about to happen. Without taking a moment for consideration, she pursued Haku, throwing him out of the way right as Kakashi's chidori was plunged into Zabuza's chest. The missing nin's body froze, his muscles tensing, then he fell backwards, dead.

"No!" Haku screamed, falling to his knees by Zabuza's body. "Why did you do that? It was my job to protect him, and you–" He broke into sobs.

"You deserve to live," Sakura consoled, her voice low. "You're so young and you're on the wrong path. Zabuza's killed so many already, but you have a chance to redeem yourself."

In the background, Sasuke stumbled to his feet, slowly making his way over to the commotion.

Haku shook his head in grief, still sobbing over Zabuza's body. "I'm so sorry," he whispered to himself and the corpse. "I'm sorry."

Sakura found herself overcome with panic. Prior to this moment, her changes had been small, almost negligible. Now, she truly changed the course of the next few years. There was knowing what would happen after this.

 **A/N: Oh look! A chapter! It's only been,,,7 months. I'll be honest, motivation to write this comes and goes with no regularity whatsoever. As I've said before, I will finish this. When? I have no clue! But it will happen.**

 **Regardless, I hope you've liked this chapter (it's quite a bit longer than the last few). This is where things start picking up and straying far from canon. What role do you guys think Haku will play later in the story?**

 **I apologize for my incredibly inconsistent writing style. For some reason, I like to oscillate between a cheesy YA author and fucking Oscar Wilde. Also, please excuse every action scene ever. I'm trying my best, I swear.**

 **Here's a chapter for you anyway. I can smell the end of the Land of Waves arc (sweet salvation)! Please leave comments and votes and reads and love and whatever!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I know, I never put author's note's before the text! Still, for this chapter I'd like you to keep in mind that this is an AU. Everything I've written in this chapter is intentional. I've checked over and over for plot holes, so none there. If you come across something and think 'that can't be right!' or 'that doesn't comply with Naruto canon', remember that I've watched enough episodes of this goddamn show to know what I'm talking about. Every discrepancy is PURPOSEFUL this time.**

Sakura stood, frozen in place. The implications of her actions had finally sunk in; she was responsible for a major change in the timeline. Haku would stay alive. Sakura's heart was pounding relentlessly in her chest as she tried to come up with a plan of action. Now that Haku remained alive, what should she do? Turn him into the Hokage so that he may have a better life? Just leave him here and let him do whatever he wants?

"Sakura." Sasuke placed a hand on her shoulder, making Sakura jump in surprise. Sasuke looked at the ground, his hands shoved firmly in his pockets. He was visibly uncomfortable. "Thanks for saving me," he mumbled.

"Of course," Sakura smiled, pushing her panicked thoughts to the back of her mind. "You're my teammate and my friend, of course I'm going to save you."

Sasuke nodded, choosing not to offer a verbal response. Yes, he understood that it was Sakura's duty as his teammate and as the healer on the team to save him, but what really surprised him was how Sakura referred to him as a friend. Before, when asked what their relationship was, Sasuke would know immediately that it was one sided infatuation. Sakura was head-over-heels in love with him and Sasuke couldn't care less. Now, Sakura herself referred to their relationship as one of mutual respect, a friendship. Sasuke nodded to himself, he could reciprocate a friendship.

"That was crazy," Naruto moaned, interrupting Sasuke's moment of contemplation and Sakura's moment of panic. "Haku and Zabuza were both crazy strong. Do you think they'll promote us to jonin once we get back to the village?"

"Don't be an idiot, Naruto," Sasuke groaned. "We barely did anything, you know.

"Why are you getting mad at me for being hopeful? If we did get promoted, I'd become Hokage in no time! I could be the youngest Hokage ever."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "No one's ever going to get appointed Hokage at thirteen. That just doesn't make any sense."

"Now we'll have time to chat on the way back," Kakashi started, reaching for a kunai, "but we're not done quite yet."

At the start of the bridge stood Gato in front of countless henchmen. "I see that Zabuza failed his mission," he snarled. "I thought I'd be taking him out plus all of you, but it looks like I've got an easier job."

Before Gato and his men could even advance, Haku began to take them out, blasting shards of ice at groups of at least three. Only moments later, Gato was the only one standing.

"This was your fault," Haku growled. "If you hadn't decided to side with that terrible ninja, Zabuza would have been in better shape. He wouldn't be dead right now."

"L-leave me alone and you can still get the money I promised!" Gato squeaked, backing away from Haku.

"I don't care about the goddamn money." With that, Haku stabbed Gato through with a kunai, pulling the knife out merely seconds after stabbing the man.

Sakura frowned in confusion. Haku spoke of a 'terrible ninja', but there had only been Haku and Zabuza in her past life. Then it hit her; neither she nor Tsunade had been particularly secretive about the time travel jutsu. They hadn't set a sound muffling jutsu on the door nor had they even considered closing the blinds. For a woman who had fought in and survived two wars, Tsunade was surprisingly careless. Perhaps she was under the impression that the world was already going to end, or perhaps in her haste to perform the jutsu, she neglected to take necessary precautions. Either way, anyone could have their discussion and though the particular jutsu that Sakura performed was rare and incredibly difficult, it was no kekkei-genkai. Any Uchiha or Hyuga could identify it right away; but Sakura knew that Madara was dead and Madara and the strange man, Tobi were one in the same. Not to mention, no Hyuga would betray the leaf village to such an extent. Regardless, Sakura was now afraid that someone could have followed her back in time, and with the horrible presence she sensed back at the training grounds, the prospects were beginning to be more likely.

"Alright, team," Kakashi sighed. "This mission has escalated into way more than I expected and I think we should go home before anything else happens. We got rid of the people threatening Tazuna, all's good." Hastily, Kakashi began to herd the genin and Tazuna in the direction of Tazuna's home before turning to Haku. "I advise you come with us. We'll bring you back to village then deal with you from there."

The boy looked resigned to his fate and followed sadly, surely expecting to spend the rest of his life in captivity in the leaf village.

Sakura fell behind the group to stand next to Haku. "I'll put a good word in for you with the Hokage," she whispered to him. "I don't think you'll get away scott-free, but I can make sure you don't suffer too much."

Haku nodded in subtle gratitude and looked away in favor of staring blankly at the horizon. He's always been a weird kid. Sakura surmised.

The trip back to Konoha was slower than Sakura remembered. Kakashi insisted that Sasuke not take the trees after his little near-death experience and no one was feeling particularly energetic. Though Sakura hadn't suffered any major blows, she was generally drained from the chakra she expended fighting Zabuza and healing Sasuke. Being young again was such a hassle! Even with the extra work she had put in, she felt painfully drained after every skirmish.

Sakura looked over to Haku, noting his pained features. He never looked particularly happy, but the death of Zabuza seemed to hit him really hard. It made Sakura worry about her choice; was choosing to save Haku's life truly the best idea? In her past life, they died together, moving on to whatever lies beyond life as a pair. Was Sakura right to separate them? But there was nothing she could do now except for mull over the moral implications of her actions.

"Hey Haku," she started infusing friendliness into her tone. "You mentioned a 'terrible ninja' that Gato sided with. Can you tell me anything about him?"

"I don't see why this concerns you," he began quietly, "but he went by the name of Tobi. I never really saw his face."

Sakura's heart seemed to stop for a moment. That was impossible! Madara was dead, and of course, Tobi was too. Naruto had killed Madara with her help, she saw it happen. Not only that, but his body was sealed away for good in case anyone got the terrible idea of reincarnating him using edo tensei. It must have been another Tobi, there was no way a sealed-away, dead man followed Sakura into the future.

"You look worried," Haku noted. "Do you know the man I spoke of?"

Sakura quickly shook her head. "I'm just–tired is all. That battle was pretty draining."

"I'm pooped too, Sakura." Naruto decided to join the conversation. "I think we should get some ramen as a team once we get back to the village in order to celebrate an A-rank mission. Wouldn't that be great?"

"I may take you up on that, I'm starving!" Sakura placed her hands on her stomach for emphasis. "I think Sasuke should go home and get some rest, though. I did my best healing him, but nothing fixes your body better than a good night's sleep."

"I'm fine," Sasuke replied pointedly. "I'm not dead, am I now?"

"Well, you could've been!"

"But I'm not. So don't worry about me."

"Wait, so are you saying that you want to get ramen with us?" Naruto butted in, grinning from ear to ear.

"No," Sasuke said definitively. "I was just telling Sakura that I don't need to be treated like a child. I'm going to go home as soon as we get back to the village."

"Oh, you're no fun!" Naruto whined. "Well, Sakura and I will get ramen without you and we'll call it a date!"

"We will not be calling it a date, Naruto."

"Fine, we will be calling it 'eating

* * *

Sakura had never been happier to see the large, red gates of Konoha. As usual, Izumo and Kotetsu were dozing on duty, earning a quick clap on the back of the head from Kakashi.

"Now, I know all of you want to rest after our..." Kakashi paused, "adventure. But before you can do that, we need to report to the Hokage, not only about the mission, but about our little friend here." He gestured towards Haku who looked detached and dejected.

"But I wanna eat ramen!" Naruto whined, throwing his head back.

"And you can, Naruto. Just wait until we're done talking with the Hokage."

"That old man is already stalking us with his creepy ball. He already knows what happened," Naruto mumbled, shuffling his feet on the ground.

Merely minutes later, team seven stood in front of the Hokage looking worse for wear and quite exhausted.

"It looks like the mission didn't go as expected," said Hiruzen. "Do you care to fill me in on the details?"

Kakashi sighed. "The mission went wrong about two hours in and we've been gone for how long now? Five days? Anyway, two chunin attacked us about halfway to the Land of Waves. We dealt with them, but decided to finish escorting Tazuna to the village instead of turning back there. There was a whole dramatic monologue on the ethics of being a ninja, it was intense. We ran into one of the seven ninja swordsmen, Zabuza–"

"And you didn't turn back?" Hiruzen raised an eyebrow.

"We were being ambushed, plus we were only fifteen minutes away from the Land of Waves, it wouldn't have made sense to turn back. Especially since we thought that the mission would end there. To be honest, I don't remember how we got to the Wave. Anyone care to fill the Hokage in?"

"Kakashi-sensei doesn't remember how we got to the wave because he passed out after our fight with Zabuza," Sakura said, continuing the story for Kakashi. "He overused his sharingan during the fight. Kakashi would have beat him, but Haku, the boy we have here, saved Zabuza's life and they both escaped. After that, we lay low in the Wave, waiting for Kakashi to get better."

"And why didn't you leave immediately when Kakashi recovered?"

"I can take over from here," Kakashi offered. "See, we figured we'd protect the bridge for one day, and leaving Tazuna defenseless against one of the seven ninja swordsmen didn't sit well on our conscious. Of course, the day we decided to protect the bridge, we were ambushed. Sasuke almost died, but he's fine now, and we brought home Haku."

Hiruzen sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had sent the team on the simplest C-rank mission he could find and yet, it managed to turn into something incredibly dangerous and confusing. What was he supposed to expect with Naruto and Sasuke on the same team?

"Leave Haku with me and you can all be on your way," Hiruzen said, beckoning for Kakashi to leave Haku by his desk. "You can come and pick up your pay for the mission tomorrow after I figure out how much you are owed for your troubles. After all this, Kakashi, I owe you at least a bottle of sake."

"That would be much appreciated." Kakashi's eye crinkled in a smile as he led Haku to the Hokage.

"One last thing, Lord Hokage," Sakura piped up before leaving with her team. "None of this was Haku's fault, he didn't have a choice in any of this."

"Thank you, Sakura," said Hiruzen. "I'll keep that in mind."

Right before Sakura could leave the building and meet up with Naruto for well-deserved ramen, she was stopped by Kakashi. Again. This time, she wasn't as nervous. She had managed to dodge his suspicion in their previous encounters and she hadn't done anything particularly suspicious since their last 'friendly chat'.

"Sakura," Kakashi started, his smile guileless. "If I could have a quick word with you?"

"Yeah, totally sensei!" Sakura replied enthusiastically, following Kakashi outside. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Look, I'll cut to the chase." Kakashi dropped the smile. "I know you're hiding something from me, Sakura. You seem to know a little too much and the amount you've improved since you've graduated just isn't plausible."

If Sakura wasn't nervous before, she sure was now. She knew that Kakashi was hell-bent on getting an answer out of her; obviously, her previous evasions were not effective enough and now she had to do something. "What do you mean 'my improvement isn't plausible'?" Sakura exclaimed indignantly. If she couldn't give Kakashi an explanation, she sure could act defiant and call out his mistakes in instructing her. Anything to distract from the fact that she was not who she claimed to be.

"You know what I mean, Sakura. From what you exhibited in the academy, there's no way you learned medical ninjutsu and such precise chakra control in so little time. You do understand how difficult medical ninjutsu is, right?"

"Of course I know how hard medical ninjutsu is, I learned it! And I've told you already, sensei, I wasn't showing my full potential back then."

"Sakura, you don't understand. What I'm saying is that there is no way you could have learned everything you know from books alone. You're a smart girl, but you're a terrible liar. You're hiding something, Sakura."

Sakura was beginning to panic. This time, Kakashi was suspicious and he wasn't letting it go. He was going to press the issue until he got an answer. Sakura sighed, running her fingers through her hair. She had no choice but to tell Kakashi. If she was going to tell anyone, it would be him anyway. Kakashi was trustworthy and had a keen sense of judgement and morality. Everything would be fine if he knew. At least, that's what Sakura was telling herself. "Fine, I'll tell you the truth," she said honestly.

"Good. Start talking."

"I know this is going to sound absolutely insane, but I don't know how else to phrase it. I'm not from this timeline." As soon as Sakura uttered those words, the absurdity sunk in. It made far more sense to say that she was a jonin level ninja posing as a genin in attempt to take over the leaf village than claim to be a time-traveller from an apocalyptic future. "I was sent back in time to fix things so that the world wouldn't fall into chaos as it did in my previous life."

Kakashi blinked several times before rubbing his temples in exasperation. "So I'm stuck training a team with the vessel of a raging demon, a traumatized kid who's prone to violent outbreaks, and now a goddamn time-traveller?"

Sakura chuckled uncomfortably, "I guess so."

"That aside, you're going to need to fill me in on how you gained the skills you have now, and what exactly happens in this chaotic future of yours."

Sakura nodded. She knew that Kakashi was trustworthy enough to hear the information. What worried her was what he'd do with the knowledge that Sasuke would go rogue. Knowing Kakashi, he would make absolutely certain that Sasuke did not defect from Konoha. If he told the Hokage, who knew what kind of scrutiny Sasuke would be under. It wasn't fair to a boy who hadn't done anything wrong yet; Sakura decided to omit that particular part of her future for Sasuke's sake.

"I think we should find somewhere to sit down," Sakura said, leading Kakashi to a park. "This is a long story. I'm surprised you believe me."

"I had my suspicions about something like this," Kakashi shrugged. "Like I said, you're a bright girl, but not a good liar. No one can learn medical ninjutsu without training, your fighting style is far too similar to Tsunade's, you seemed to expect everything that happened during the mission in the wave, and you hold yourself like a young adult, not a preteen. From that, I could have assumed that you were using some kind of transformation jutsu to pose as a genin, but I didn't sense anything."

Sakura sighed. She was far less subtle than she thought. "You actually got one thing wrong. I did not expect everything that happened during our last mission. Things have started to change and I won't always be able to anticipate the outcome. It really worries me."

"Just stop beating around the bush and explain to me why you're back here."

"I know this is going to sound absurd, but everything was the fault of Madara Uchiha–"

"But he's dead," Kakashi interrupted, raising an eyebrow.

"No, he isn't. Somehow, he managed to extend his lifespan, adopted the pseudonym, Tobi, and he formed a group of incredibly dangerous missing ninja called the Akatsuki. I'm sure you've heard of some of the members, since one of them was the one and only Itachi Uchiha."

"I figured as much," Kakashi sighed. "I knew he was part of some organization and it was only a matter of time before I pinned down which one."

"Orochimaru was part of this organization too, though his fidelity towards the Akatsuki was often questioned. Once Madara began his plan to extract the tailed beasts from the jinchuuriki and summon the ten-tails, all of the ninja villages were thrown into war. We fought Madara for a long time, somehow fending off the looming threat of world-destruction via ten-tails for several years. Finally Naruto and Sasuke, who both became very powerful, used the extent of their skill to kill the already weakened Madara and we thought that we had won. But the war left such a toll on the village that we were in no state to defend ourselves once Orochimaru and the entirety of the Sound Village besieged Konoha. Lady Tsunade, who was the Hokage at the time and my mentor, entrusted me with this jutsu so that I may fix the timeline and save everyone from facing extinction."

Sakura knew that she was leaving out significant details by omitting Sasuke's little power spree. In fact, even though Sasuke helped defeat Madara, he did so only so that the leaf village would be preserved so that he could destroy it with his own hands. When he came to destroy the village with Orochimaru, though, Naruto was ready to sacrifice his life to end Sasuke's. And that is when Sakura knew that she had to use the jutsu.

Kakashi nodded slowly, processing the information. "You have told me quite a lot, Sakura," he said pensively. "Now when exactly does all of this happen?"

"In about four years," Sakura replied, her gaze pointed towards the ground.

"And how do we prevent it?"

"I'm working on that right now. Until I have a solid plan, I suggest that we make sure that the sound village can not participate in the chunin exams. It is lead by Orochimaru, and they tried to overthrow the leaf village in my past life."

"You didn't mention that in your summary."

"Believe it or not, given the incredibly catastrophic events that follow, a little invasion isn't the biggest issue." Sakura didn't admit that that particular invasion led to Sasuke's defection, but it was certainly the reason she was so adamant about preventing the Sound from coming near Konoha.

"Well if it isn't that big a deal, why spend time stopping it?"

"Because, important people died and if it's preventable, why let people die in front of our eyes?"

"Haven't you developed a good moral compass?" Kakashi chuckled. "You didn't mention much about yourself. You said that Naruto and Sasuke became very powerful. What about you?"

"I feel like I shouldn't tell you," Sakura chuckled. "I can't tell you everything about the future. It just–it doesn't feel right. You should get to experience some stuff first time around, you know? But for the record, pay more attention to your female student."

With that, Sakura hurried off to Ichiraku's. She knew that Kakashi would have more questions but given the sheer amount of information she thrust upon him, he'd need at least a few hours to mull it over. And Sakura was hoping to take that short respite to eat ramen and take a shower; god, after everything she'd been through in the past month, she deserved it.

* * *

"What took you so long?!" Naruto crossed his arms tightly around his chest, scowling at Sakura.

"I got caught up by Kakashi-sensei, sorry," Sakura apologized. "You know him, always asking questions."

"I waited for you, ya know. I didn't even order," Naruto announced proudly.

"Thank you for waiting! Well, I'm here now, so let's eat."

Before Naruto could place his certainly long and expensive order, Sasuke came through the cloth overhang in the front of the restaurant.

"What are you doing here, teme?" Naruto asked accusingly. "You said you weren't going to come!"

"I got hungry," Sasuke shrugged. "Plus, my fridge is empty and I plan on going shopping tomorrow."

Naruto scowled in response and began his order of not one, but three bowls of chashu ramen (with extra pork). Sakura followed with her simple order of miso ramen, and Sasuke ordered the same.

Sakura inhaled the heavenly aroma of her ramen and dug in, taking ravenous bites. But not as ravenous as Naruto, who had nearly finished his first bowl in the first few minutes of receiving it.

"So uh," he mumbled between bites, "anyone wanna take the bill on this? My wallet's empty."

"So you invite us to ramen, hoping that you'll score a free meal?" Sakura asked sweetly, tightening the grip on her chopsticks.

"Kinda, yeah! Do you wanna pay?"

"No, Naruto, I don't want to."

Naruto's face dropped. "But if you don't, teme won't either and then–"

"I don't want to, but I will," Sakura interrupted, taking pity on Naruto's sad, kicked-puppy look.

As soon as the team finished their ramen, Sakura placed several bills on the counter and thanked Teuchi. In all honesty, Sakura believed that Teuchi was the most trustworthy and patient person in the entirety of Konoha. He dealt with Naruto's buffoonery for nearly twenty years without complaining or kicking the boy out of his shop. Teuchi truly was a saint.

"Sakura," Sasuke called as they were leaving the shop. "Could I ask you something?"

Sakura was first impressed by Sasuke's good-manners. She expected something more abrasive, but it seemed as if Sasuke was changing for the better. But after the initial feeling of content, she was exasperated. Why was it that everyone always needed to pull her aside for a minute? Everything that involved her had to be done in confidence, didn't it?

"Yeah, of course," Sakura said good-naturedly. Sasuke talking to her in the first place was special. There was no need to ruin it by her personal peeves.

"I've been thinking–" he started, shifting uncomfortably.

Sakura knew already that Sasuke would either be saying something kind or requesting assistance.

"I've been thinking about what you said about medical ninjutsu," he finally spat out.

"Yeah, about learning it. I stand by what I said. You'd be well suited!"

"So, could you teach me?"

Sakura's eyebrows shot up. That was the last thing she expected to hear from Sasuke. "Of course!" She exclaimed. "Any time you want! I'd be more than happy."

"Tomorrow at 3. We have the day off anyway."

With that, Sasuke walked off towards the Uchiha complex. For all of the worries of this life, Sakura had to be thankful for the new Sasuke.

 **A/N: Oh boy, am I going to hate myself for updating so quickly. But I have a chapter all spruced up and ready and I genuinely enjoy this one! Plus, after all the waiting I've made you readers do, you guys deserve two chapters published so close together.**

 **Now for content stuff. Things have gotten spicy! Please keep the little PSA at the beginning in mind. That will apply to all following chapters now that I've mentioned some specific information.**

 **I'd also love to hear your theories about what's going to happen later on in the story. Now that I have everything planned out, it's always fun to hear what the readers think is going to happen. I wonder if anyone will be right?**

 **Enjoy the chapter and please vote, comment, read, leave love and appreciation, etc. Thanks!**


	13. Chapter 13

**This chapter has been beta-read by RedFeather2044. I am more than thankful for their watchful eye and amazing editing work!**

When Sakura returned home after dinner, she was surprisingly calm. Though she suffered a moment of panic on the bridge, she had recovered well from the incident and remained together. In fact, the most stressful part about returning to the village wasn't the sudden memories of the terrifying fight on the bridge, but her doting parents.

"Sakura, sweetie!" Mebuki pulled Sakura into a rib-crushing embrace as soon as she walked through the front door. "I don't know what that crazy sensei of yours was thinking! You're in no way ready for an A-rank mission."

"Well, we finished it, didn't we?" She gave her mother a sweet smile. Sakura couldn't recall how she reacted when she returned home the first time. She probably sobbed about Sasuke's near-death into her mother's shoulder a bit.

"My goodness," Mebuki said, shaking her head. "You seem so calm. You know when I went on my first scary mission, I was a mess for days after!"

"It wasn't a 'scary mission', mom, it was a mission that taught all of us about the deceit of clients."

"Okay, okay, I get it. You're in real ninja mode. Now go upstairs and clean up. You're a mess!"

Sakura obliged and padded up the carpeted steps of her house. Her room remained the way she had left it, painfully pink and incredibly unprofessional. She didn't have one drawer for scrolls or anywhere to sharpen or repair her ninja tools. Yet another thing that she'd have to fix.

Without wasting a second, Sakura hopped into the shower, washing off days of grime from her skin. She always found showering the best time to think, especially if she had a lot on her mind.

Now that she had revealed herself to Kakashi, something she was surprisingly willing to do, she actually had to make a plan. Sure, she had decided that "save Sasuke from succumbing to the darkness" was a priority, but that was mostly a personal thing. Now, she really needed to think of ways to avoid impending doom.

There was always the option to find Tobi, hunt him down, and kill him now, but the village simply didn't have enough firepower. The only way they were able to bring Madara down the first time was thanks to Sasuke's rinnegan, susanoo, and eternal mangekyou sharingan plus Naruto's nine-tails sage mode combo. It was ridiculous how powerful the two of them became. It was as if the universe decided that all of the power would go to those two and everyone else in their generation would be left with scraps.

Not to say that Sakura's power was measly–no, it was quite formidable! She just couldn't destroy a continent with one glance. A mountain, maybe. A nation, certainly not.

Even before she could solidify a way to take down Tobi, she worried about Kakashi. She shoved a lot of information on him earlier, a lot of which seemed nearly impossible. She knew that Kakashi was just giving her space for now and allowing himself to think about the future a bit, but Sakura wanted to follow up with him. She needed to make sure he didn't make any decisions that would harm Naruto or Sasuke in the long run.

Sakura groaned. Now that Sasuke wanted to learn medical ninjutsu, he may be even more attracted to Orochimaru, especially if Kabuto was with him. Sakura needed to make sure that he learned medical ninjutsu the right and ethical way. Not the I-don't-mind-human-sacrifices-as-long-as-I-learn-something approach by which Kabuto was so intrigued. As long as Sakura taught him at first, he'd be fine, she was sure.

Sakura stepped out of the shower and into her steamy bathroom. The hair that she had cut on graduation day was beginning to grow out; it fell right at her shoulders now. As much as she aesthetically liked the look of her hair this length, she knew that it served no practical purpose and she would have to cut it

* * *

Sakura woke up painfully early the next morning. Glancing at the clock beside her bed, she noticed that it was barely 5:00. Despite the early hour and the fact that she barely felt rested, she knew that she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep. She rolled out of bed messily, her short pink hair forming a frizzy halo around her head.

Despite the fantasies that she held in the academy, kunoichi did not wake gracefully. They were not always ready for the coming day, their bodies trained well to snap in and out of sleep with a moment's notice. In all of Sakura's years of being a ninja, she never found early morning shifts easy, especially since all of her ninja experience fell in her teenage years. As a medic, she had read all about the extensive amounts of sleep adolescents required to grow and live healthily. Ninja never fulfilled their sleep quota. In the days of the war, Sakura would be lucky to squeeze in five hours of sleep and every time she had to wake up, she would have to throw herself off of her cot in order to become at least semi-conscious.

Now, as a weak thirteen year old, Sakura was even more bleary eyed and exhausted. And as much as she physically wished she could fall back asleep, her mind had other ideas.

All night, her mind had been running wild about her decision to tell Kakashi everything. It truly was her fault for showing off too much in fights and not hiding her identity enough. For all of her stealth and infiltration training, she was no good at impersonating herself. In the moment–though she may have suffered a momentary lack of judgement–she couldn't see any harm in alerting Kakashi to the dangers to come. In fact, she was just overwhelmed by his intensity and his hell-bent attitude towards getting an answer. Sakura still retained a fervent need of approval from Kakashi, even after years of dealing with his antics, and even after his death. Now she was thirteen again, with her preteen hormones running wild, forced to make very adult decisions.

Sakura made up her mind. Kakashi was certainly up at this hour, as she was fairly certain that Kakashi didn't really sleep, and she needed to speak to him immediately. Dressing quickly, she slipped soundlessly out the window and took to the roofs.

* * *

Sakura pounded on the door of Kakashi's quaint apartment. She only had to stand out in the cold morning air for a few moments before Kakashi opened the door, still in his shuriken pajamas.

"You do know that it's 5:15 in the morning, Sakura-chan?" Kakashi mumbled.

"I need to talk to you," Sakura insisted, trying to stifle a giggle as she saw Kakashi's pajama pants.

"And you couldn't have waited until the sun rose?" Kakashi groaned. "Oh forget it, come in."

Kakashi led Sakura into a small living small living room and gestured for her to take a seat on the couch.

"Tea?" He was already putting the kettle on the stove.

For someone as lazy and crude as Kakashi, his apartment was immaculate. It seemed as if no one even lived in it.

"I think we need to talk about our plan for the future," Sakura said, gratefully accepting tea from Kakashi.

"I agree. In fact, I have quite a few questions."

Sakura hummed, noncommittal, "I'll answer what I can."

"How did you even go back in time? I've never heard of a time travel jutsu."

She sighed. "The jutsu, in theory is not wildly complicated. It's kind of like a reverse summoning jutsu that links you to yourself in a point in time and inserts your mind into that form. In a way, you trade in your current body for your old one, but keep your consciousness."

"Do you keep your chakra?" Kakashi was silently scanning Sakura's body for anomalies.

"No." Sakura shook her head. "I'm definitely stuck with genin level chakra. It sucks. Going back to the jutsu, though. If I manage to survive up to the point when the jutsu was cast in this timeline, everything kind of resets and I'll be sent back to wherever I was when I originally cast the jutsu. Except, all of the changes that I made will still apply and my original timeline will essentially be erased. If I die before then, my original timeline will keep on going and this timeline will be erased."

Kakashi nodded slowly. "How did Lady Tsunade even get her hands on a jutsu like this?"

"It was some ancient and sacred Senju secret, I think," Sakura shrugged. "Lady Tsunade never really spared me the details."

"Of course you wouldn't waste time explaining how you got your hands on a certainly illegal jutsu if the world was about to end."

"I mean, the world may not have ended, but Konoha certainly would have," Sakura chuckled uncomfortably. "Orochimaru and Sasuke were about five hours away from levelling the village before Naruto and I got involved. If I hadn't performed the jutsu when I did, Orochimaru would have destroyed Konoha by the end of the day and every inhabitant would have been dead."

"Sounds grim," Kakashi agreed. "Now, let's make sure that doesn't happen. You said that the first step is avoiding attempted invasion by Otogakure and Sunagakure?"

"Yeah," Sakura nodded, considering how much she should tell Kakashi about the future event. "It was all Orochimaru's arrangement, so if we don't allow Oto to participate in the chunin exams, and ban them outright from entering the village, we may be able to avoid the invasion."

"See, as good as that sounds, how can I ask the Hokage to ban Otogakure without explaining this entire...scenario?"

"Otogakure is already quite suspicious. I'm sure you could dig up enough incriminating evidence about them in a few days," Sakura said, knowing fully well that a ninja village just popping up out of nowhere was already something the Hokage should look into. "I'd look into reports of missing people around the area. That will probably pan out to something."

"I'll take your word for it, Sakura-chan." Kakashi smiled sweetly at her. "You know, it's very hard for me to treat you like anything but a cute little genin."

"As much as that personally bothers me," Sakura started, grinning amicably nonetheless, "I think it's best for both of us if you treat me like you would if I wasn't a time-traveller. I trust you know not to tell anyone."

"Of course," Kakashi agreed. "I was an ANBU operative. Now run along and do genin things. I have to get ready for the day, though I wish I could have gotten in a few more hours of sleep..."

"I know you weren't sleeping," Sakura countered.

"Fine, fine, just run along now, my cute little genin."

* * *

Sakura arrived at team seven's normal training ground at 2:45, figuring that she could warm up a bit before Sasuke arrived. Only moments after sitting down to stretch, Sasuke came ambling into the field, his hands shoved firmly into his pockets.

"Oh, you're early," Sakura remarked, popping up from her stretches.

"So are you," Sasuke replied. "We should start now since we're both here."

"Sounds good." Sakura dug a scroll out of her pouch. "Usually, you have to read tons of books on medical ninjutsu before you can even start performing it. I'll try to find the books I studied in the library, then I'll give them to you. Until then, we can just talk about medical ninjutsu conceptually."

"Can't I just copy it with my sharingan?"

Sakura opened her mouth to retort before realizing that Sasuke did indeed have a point. She had never thought of the possibility of just copying something like healing ninjutsu. In fact, she wasn't sure if it would even work, given that it was less of a ninjutsu and more of a chakra manipulation. Uchiha were never medics, since their skills served the front lines far better, so Sakura couldn't think of any examples to prove or disprove Sasuke's point.

"I suppose we could try, but I don't want something to go wrong," Sakura said hesitantly.

"What could go wrong? Either I do it or I don't," Sasuke insisted.

"You could burst the capillaries and blood vessels in your attempt." Sakura listed the possibilities off on her fingers. "You could tear the muscle, rip the skin more, and perhaps even break the bone. That's if your chakra control is too rough, which I suspect it is."

Sasuke scowled. "That's because I have chakra," he murmured. "What if I'm not healing something. What if I'm just making the healing chakra appear around my hands?"

Sakura sighed in capitulation. "Fine, I'll channel healing chakra into my hands and you can try to copy it. Let's see how this goes."

Focusing chakra into her hands was instinctual for Sakura, in merely seconds, her hands were enveloped in a soothing green light. Sasuke watched her intently, his sharingan blazing as he copied the technique.

"Focus your chakra with a ram seal before you try it," Sakura suggested, letting the light fade from her hands.

Sasuke nodded in agreement and closed his eyes tightly. Sakura could feel the chakra coursing through his body as he focused. Though Sakura's sensing abilities were far from exceptional, she could feel a harshness to Sasuke's chakra that would not be conducive to healing. Sasuke thrust his hands out in front of him and channeled the focused chakra into his hands. Immediately, he winced in pain as the blue chakra burned his hands.

"Well, that didn't work," Sakura chuckled, attempting to lighten the mood.

Sasuke just glared at her. "I noticed," he hissed. "Now fix my hands."

As Sakura healed Sasuke, she noticed how he observed intently again, sharingan active. Before she could finish soothing the burns, Sasuke wrenched his hands away.

"Could I try to finish healing them?" He was already placing one hand over the other.

"That sounds like a bad idea," Sakura insisted, pushing his hand away. "Medics never heal themselves. It's not safe."

"You're always saying it's 'not safe'," Sasuke scoffed. "Just let me try something, I'm sure my constitution is enough to handle some basic medical ninjutsu."

Sakura frowned. "I know you think that medical ninjutsu is easy and the coward's route, but it takes a lot of skill. Why do you even want to learn it anyway?"

"I don't think it's the coward's route," Sasuke insisted. He opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated, unsure about his intentions. "You just make it seem so easy." He finally admitted, eyes fixed firmly on the ground.

Sakura was surprised to hear that from Sasuke, though she was constantly impressed by his improved social skills these past few months. "Thanks," she mumbled, fighting the blush that was beginning to stain her cheeks. "But really. Why do you want to learn how to heal?"

If it was possible, Sasuke managed to look even more uncomfortable. "When we were on the bridge, Naruto got hurt," he mumbled, hands firmly in his pockets. "I don't know what happened, but the injuries went away when he got mad. But before that, I thought he was going to die in front of me. I thought he was going to die protecting me." The last sentence came out as a whisper.

"I'm sorry," Sakura murmured. She didn't know that Sasuke cared so much about Naruto.

"I never want to feel as useless as I did during that fight," Sasuke continued quietly. "If I had known medical ninjutsu, I could have saved Naruto and then we both could have defeated Haku together. Instead, he had some kind of crazy powerup and I was left feeling useless."

"That's–" Sakura started, nodding slowly, "a perfectly valid reason, Sasuke. Honorable, even. In that case, I'll definitely help you, you just need to promise me that you'll be cooperative."

"Fine, but you can't treat me like a child."

"I won't," Sakura chuckled. "Sorry if I came off as condescending."

Sasuke shrugged, as if to brush off the apology. "How do I start?"

Sakura sighed. Though she had learned medical ninjutsu thoroughly, studying it until her knowledge rivalled Tsunade's, teaching was another issue entirely. In all honesty, she had never been particularly proficient in teaching, given her penchant for growing frustrated at incompetent young children. That mixed with the war were two of the three defining factors that decided why she didn't take up a genin team once she became a jonin, the third being the fact that her jonin status was a field promotion. She never really got to be a real jonin of Konoha thanks to constant warfare.

"Well, as I said earlier, I had to read quite a few texts on human anatomy and the chakra system. In order to heal someone, you need to know how they work."

"I've already read about anatomy," Sasuke said. "In order to know how to kill someone, you need to know how they work."

Sakura looked taken-aback. Though Sasuke was a fighter through and through, he was rarely so violent in his speech.

"The anatomical knowledge required for medical ninjutsu far surpasses academy-level texts."

"Tch." Sasuke shook his head. "I didn't read the pathetic, dumbed-down textbooks the academy gave us. Everything I know about anatomy comes from the texts in the Uchiha archive."

It was strange for Sasuke to speak so openly about his resources, especially if it pertained to his late family.

"If you think you're so well versed, I'll give you a little test," Sakura suggested, smiling playfully. "I need some time to write it up, but come to my house in an hour and we'll see if you've really learned everything necessary for healing."

 **A/N: So, this chapter was originally merged with chapter 14, but it was just getting too long, so you'll see the rest of Sasuke's first medical ninjutsu training in the next chapter. Speaking of which, how do you guys feel about Sasuke's choice to take up medical ninjutsu? It's pretty uncharacteristic of him, don't you think? Well, it's going to contribute a lot to his character development, so I hope you guys are excited for Medic!Sasuke.**

 **As for the Tobi/Madara stuff. For the record, I have not forgotten that they are two separate people and they remain so in this AU. What that entails for the plot of Zaman, you'll just have to find out...**

 **I hope you guys have enjoyed a few close-packed updates! I'm really getting back into writing this fic!**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: This chapter was beta-read by RedFeather2044. Thank you for your careful editing!**

It was only after Sakura arrived at her house that she realized she never actually told Sasuke where she lived. She then remembered, though, how Sasuke had walked her home after their first practice and her worries were alleviated.

Sakura was well aware of Sasuke's intelligence when it came to everything, really. Though she was more booksmart than him, and often surpassed him when it came to written tests and conceptual assessments, Sasuke was far from ignorant. He believed in being a well-rounded shinobi, relying on intelligence _and_ physical strength. It was a very effective philosophy, and contributed to his prowess on the battlefield. In her previous life, Sasuke had forsaken some of his academic drive in order to obtain raw power and Sakura liked to think that it contributed to his convoluted sense of morals at the end of his brief life.

Grabbing paper from her father's office, Sakura began to jot down test questions. Though she wished she had a good anatomy book for reference, her memory of the human body was impeccable, and would more than suffice in this situation. And although she wanted to make the questions difficult enough to stump Sasuke and put him in his place for a little bit, she knew that she had to assume to position of a teacher, not a petty teammate. Yet again, Sakura was reminded why she should never be the sensei of a genin team.

Finally, Sakura finished drafting the test. She glanced over it, making sure that her handwriting was perfectly legible and that each diagram was drawn with the precision necessary to assess the human body. Smiling to herself, she took pride in her sketches of the chakra system. They almost perfectly resembled the diagrams found in texts. Now, all she had to do was wait for Sasuke.

* * *

Sasuke knocked on Sakura's door, politely resisting the urge to enter through the seemingly defenseless windows. Windows that certainly should be reinforced with booby-traps, given that Sakura was a ninja. Sasuke had set traps and alarms all throughout the Uchiha complex. Since he was living on such a sprawling piece of land alone, it was of utmost importance that he make sure he was safe. And even though he knew that Itachi would never be caught by simple booby-traps, he was able to trick himself into a false sense of security.

Sakura opened the door, already exuding her typical enthusiasm. Though Sasuke found her surprisingly jaded for a preteen girl–especially one with so little real-world experience–he had come to appreciate some of her optimism. Of course, it didn't reach the ludicrous levels of Naruto's demeanor, but coupled with well-deserved cynicism, Sakura's personality was quite conducive to a good ninja.

"So, did you write the test?" Sasuke started, waiting for Sakura to invite him into her house.

"Of course." Sakura's smile was slightly mischievous. "Come on in. You can take my little test on the table."

Sasuke made his way through the doorway, taking his shoes off in the front hallway. There were family photos covering both of the walls; photos of Sakura's parents' wedding, pictures of Sakura as a baby, happy family photos, and some worn, black-and-white photos of what Sasuke could only assume were Sakura's grandparents. It was a perfect family house, and where Sasuke expected to feel anger, he only felt emptiness.

Sakura slapped the test down on the table. "You have thirty minutes to complete this," she announced. "It contains all the anatomy you need to know in order to _start_ learning medical ninjutsu. It's in no way everything you'll need to know in order to heal someone."

"Aright, just let me take the test," Sasuke insisted, sitting down at the table and all but snatching the pen from Sakura's hand.

"I'll be upstairs in my room, fixing some traps. No cheating."

"I won't have to."

Sasuke wished he had studied more. There were certain intricacies of the human body that Sasuke had never considered, though they were certainly pertinent to both healing and fighting. So, with great effort and extreme mental strain, Sasuke filled out the questions on the exam, knowing fully well that some of his answers were merely scratching the surface of what knowledge was required in order to heal the body.

"I'm done, Sakura!" He called from the kitchen.

For some reason, he felt incredibly hesitant towards venturing further into Sakura's house without permission. Perhaps it was just basic etiquette.

"Coming!" Sakura jogged down the stairs and into the kitchen, taking the test from Sasuke's outstretched hand. "I'll put some tea on and we can chat about medical ninjutsu while I grade this. It will only take a few minutes."

Sasuke nodded, not moving from his spot at the table.

"So, do you have any questions?" Sakura asked while bustling about the kitchen, placing the kettle on the stove.

"How did you learn medical ninjutsu?"

At this point in her elaborate lie of a life, Sakura was more than ready to offer yet another fib. Luckily, Sasuke was not quite as astute as Kakashi and she could get away with more.

"My old friend, the one I'm trying to save, taught me some of it," Sakura lied easily. Though Kakashi knew that the only medical ninja capable of teaching such high-level skills was Tsunade Senju, Sasuke had no such knowledge. "And the rest I taught myself. I read about it a lot and spent pretty much all of my academy time honing my skills. The same way you did with your fire and shuriken ninjutsu."

Sasuke took well to the imbedded compliment, smirking slightly when Sakura mentioned his devotion to the ninja arts. His pleasure in being complimented erased any suspicion he could have harbored towards Sakura's enigmatic "childhood friend".

"Alright, Sasuke," Sakura started, "I'm done grading the test."

She handed the sheet back to Sasuke, careful not to show anything in her face. Sasuke snatched the test from her hands and looked straight to the mark on the top of the page. His face dropped for a second before he looked up hesitantly.

"Well, I _passed_ ," he muttered.

"You did well!" Sakura insisted. "An 85% is actually quite impressive for someone who's never formally studied anatomy before."

"But it's a B."

"Don't think of this in letter grades, think of it more along the lines of: you possess 85% of the anatomical knowledge necessary to learn medical ninjutsu."

"That's not good enough."

"It really is. _I'm_ the teacher here, aren't I?"

"But I've never done this badly."

"Look, do you want to learn medical ninjutsu or not?" Sakura interrupted Sasuke's spiral into self pity. He truly was a prodigy; he'd never gotten worse than an 'A' in his life.

"I do," Sasuke insisted. He looked down to the table and wrung his hands. "I'm just…disappointed in myself."

"Look, we don't have time for self-pity. You're not going to get everything on the first try when it comes to healing. You're going to fail and you're going to get used to it. I'll be honest with you, my chakra control is better than yours and I struggled a _lot._ This isn't going to be easy."

"Tch." Sasuke rolled his eyes, obviously too prideful to accept Sakura's terms. "Just start teaching me."

"I was planning on doing that. Come with me to the market."

* * *

Sasuke followed Sakura, growing irritated by her lack of an explanation and her quick steps. Why were they going shopping when Sasuke should be learning medical ninjutsu? Sometimes Sasuke was under the impression that Sakura did things specifically to annoy him; he also realized how volatile his opinions on Sakura were. Finally Sakura stopped her near-jog and leaned over the fish stall.

"Hello Takahashi-san!" She greeted amicably. "I'm going to need all of your freshest fish."

The vendor laughed heartily. "You want _all_ of my best fish? Or just a few."

"All of them, thank you."

"Are you planning on feeding the entire Akimichi clan?" he teased, already bagging the fish.

"Oh no, I'd need even more to do that," Sakura said, her tone good-natured. "I actually need these for training."

Takahashi continued the playful banter. "Training for an eating competition?"

"I'm a ninja, Takahashi-san," Sakura chuckled. "I don't need any training. I'm always ravenous."

Takahashi handed Sakura the bulging bag, putting his palm forward for payment. Sakura placed the money in his hand and grabbed Sasuke's wrist, effectively dragging him back to the house.

* * *

"What do we need fish for?" Sasuke leaned against the doorway of the kitchen, gazing disinterestedly at Sakura while she lined the table with newspaper.

"You're going to bring them back to life," she replied with an air of nonchalance. "The quicker you can figure it out, the better. Fish get harder to revive the longer they've been dead."

"But you haven't actually _taught_ me anything," he snipped.

"I saw you copying medical ninjutsu in action. You at least have a feel for how the chakra should be manipulated. Also, your anatomical knowledge is good enough to figure out how to fix a fish."

"I don't even know how to start."

"I'll do the first one, and you can try after me."

Sakura placed the dead fish on a scroll and moved through the well-practiced motions slowly, so that Sasuke could easily follow. Placing her hands over the carcass, she let the healing chakra flow into the flesh, repairing the internal damage and finally jolting the fish with life. It began to flap helplessly on the scroll before its second life petered out and it died again.

"Don't worry about all the fish," Sakura chuckled. "I'm going to give them to people in the poorer districts for free. No wasting here."

"I wasn't worried," Sasuke scoffed, preparing a scroll and a fish for himself.

Without as much as stopping to think, Sasuke channeled healing chakra into the carcass. Sakura had to admit that she was impressed. This time around, Sasuke had managed to produce the tell-tale green color that defined healing chakra, revealing that he understood the ninjutsu aspect of medical ninjutsu. He did not understand the chakra control aspect. Only seconds after he placed his hands on the fish, the entire carcass exploded, splattering guts and raw flesh all over Sakura's kitchen.

"Chakra control!" Sakura explained, wiping fish sludge off her face. "You can't force medical ninjutsu!"

Sasuke spat out a wad of raw fish onto the heavily stained newspaper. "Let me try again."

Sakura took a tentative look at the state of her kitchen. Saying it was merely 'a mess' was an extreme understandment. At this point, it didn't matter if Sasuke tried again. Even with the same result, she'd still be scrubbing the entire kitchen down.

"Alright, but remember to be gentle," she sighed, placing another fish on the scroll. "Looks like one family won't be getting a good fish dinner."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and began again. This time he eased into the healing, probing through the corpse with healing chakra before he attempted anything.

"I can feel things breaking," he muttered through gritted teeth. "It's doing the opposite of what I want."

"That's because you're _forcing_ it," Sakura explained calmly. "Be gentle and precise. You need to focus on every little repair you're doing."

Sasuke nodded and reverted his concentration to healing. He took a deep breath and let the stress fall from his shoulders as he continued to breathe life into the fish.

"I can't feel anything in it anymore."

"Let me check what happened." Sakura moved next to Sasuke, quickly scanning the fish. She chuckled. "Hand me your kunai."

Sasuke did so hesitantly. Once the knife was in her hand, Sakura cut a clean incision down its body. As soon as she moved her hand away, viscous sludge poured out from the cut.

"You liquidated its insides," Sakura pointed out, carefully rolling the carcass in the scroll and placing it in the trash can. "You were more careful than last time, but you're not using the healing chakra to _heal_. I think it's part of a fundamental misunderstanding. You only know chakra as a means to destroy. Whether it manifests in your fire ninjutsu or in any other ninjutsu you know, your aim is to manipulate it in the most deadly way possible. That is not the case for medical ninjutsu. Though the green chakra is, by default, more gentle than normal chakra, it still has the same inherent properties. If you manipulate it with a desire to maim, you will still maim. You need to alter your mindset completely."

Sasuke was growing irritated. Despite his hardest efforts, healing wasn't coming easily to him. In fact, he wasn't merely struggling, he was failing miserably. And there was nothing that Sasuke hated more than failure.

"Hand me another fish," he insisted, his fists clenched.

"Anger and healing don't mix," Sakura demurred, shooting Sasuke a worried look. "Why don't we take a second to recap and then you can try again?"

"You said it yourself. It only gets harder as time passes. I need to figure this out when the fish are fresh."

Sakura looked at Sasuke sheepishly. "I exaggerated a little to give you some incentive. The fish is already dead. It's not going to get much dead-er until rot sets in."

"You lied to me?" Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Woah woah! No need to take it that seriously. I just wanted you to have a little push going into it. It really isn't serious at all."

"I don't like being lied to."

"You understand how absurd you sound, right?" Sakura's lips twitched upwards. "I just exaggerated the state of a _fish_. I didn't hold any life changes secrets from you." The fact that Sakura indeed was holding life changing secrets from Sasuke at the moment weighed on her conscious. Not to mention, Sasuke's over-the-top reaction to something as inconsequential as fish-rotting patterns made Sakura nervous for the hypothetical day when Sasuke found about Sakura's situation. She could only hope that everything went smoothly and that Sasuke would never have to know.

"Fine." Sasuke's face was contorted into a frown. "What do we need to recap about?"

"You need to calm down and change your attitude a little," Sakura said, attempting to soothe Sasuke's seething rage. "Healing is gentle and precise. You have to _want_ to help people. I've said it once, and I'll say it again. _You can't force medical ninjutsu._ "

Sasuke grit his teeth, but let out a soothing breath quickly afterwards. "Did you ever have trouble with wanting to help people?" His voice was tentative, and Sakura knew that the vulnerability he was showing was conducive to medical ninjutsu.

"To be perfectly honest," Sakura started, careful not to lay her hand on any fish sludge, "I didn't. But that's because I wasn't trained to kill like you were. I wasn't really trained for anything, being civilian born."

"Clans can be a curse." Sasuke's tone was lamenting, which differed greatly from the barely restrained contempt he usually conveyed while speaking about his clan.

"I know they can," Sakura soothed. "But it helps to be taken seriously. Now that you're calm, do you want to try again?"

Sasuke nodded confidently and placed a fish in front of him again. His brow creased in concentration as he bent over the table and channelled chakra into his hands. Sakura began to scan Sasuke's chakra, almost cheering aloud when she noticed the gentle flow of medical ninjutsu. Sweat was beginning to gather on Sasuke's forehead as he continued to concentrate, but Sakura knew that his effort wouldn't be in vain this time.

Painstakingly, Sasuke breathed life back into the fish. For a few seconds, it flapped on the table before its life petered out. Sasuke staggered backwards, knocking over a chair as he fell. Before Sasuke's head hit the sharp edge of a coffee table, Sakura caught him, helping him onto the couch.

"It's hard, isn't it?" She chuckled, handing Sasuke his unfinished mug of tea.

"But I have more chakra than you," Sasuke mumbled between heavy breaths.

"You do, but I know how not to waste my chakra while healing. Any decent ninja in a half a mile radius would have felt the chakra spike that you emanted while healing that fish. In all reality, you needed about a tenth of what you used."

Sasuke nodded in acknowledgment, drinking greedily from the mug.

"I think we should call it a day," Sakura advised, grimacing as she looked at the state of the kitchen. "I don't need you out cold on the kitchen floor."

Sasuke's lack of pushback was testament to his exhaustion as he merely nodded in agreement and pushed himself weakly off the couch.

"I'll drop some books off at your house for you to study," Sakura called as Sasuke left her house.

After two hours of dealing with Sasuke's moods, all Sakura wanted was to curl up with a good book, but given the state of her kitchen, she knew such luxuries were beyond her.

 **A/N: To be frank, I really loved writing this chapter. I know it's really Sasusaku centric, and I know I ignored Naruto a bit, but we'll be seeing a lot more of him in the chapters to come. I haven't forgotten about him!**

 **I hope you've enjoyed Sasuke's first medical ninjutsu lesson. I need to make sure he struggles a little in the beginning. I don't think he did enough struggling when it came to learning ninjutsu in canon. He suffered in other ways though, don't get me wrong...**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please read and review!**


	15. Chapter 15

The librarian, Fumiro, had come to expect the funny, pink-haired genin–Sakura was her name–that frequented his place of work. She always had the most peculiar book-requests, punctuated by mundane adventure novels that her peers enjoyed. All in all, she was incredibly abnormal yet normal at the same time, a fun puzzle for the Fumiro to spend his time working out.

One particular sunny Saturday, Sakura marched into the library with her typical sense of purpose and belonging. She always walked around the library as if she knew exactly what she was looking for, yet she still requested Fumiro's assistance every single time. Fumiro sat at his desk, brimming with anticipation to hear what fun title Sakura would request this time; maybe it would be another book of Senju clan techniques, or maybe this would be another tragic memoir of the Uchiha clan, or maybe even, she'd be looking for the sequel of the new adventure novel, _The Reign of Raiko_.

Sakura slumped onto the chair in front of Fumiro's desk dramatically, sinking into its cushions.

"I need a romance novel," she requested. "I've been reading too much heavy material lately. From the historical texts I've been scanning to _The Reign of Raiko_ , which is really quite dark, I've been overburdened with–well–heavy stuff. I need something sappy."

Fumiro raised an eyebrow in amusement. Sakura's little rant was quite dramatic for a thirteen year old. Truly, how burdened could she be? Then, Fumiro remembered Sakura's concerningly tragic reading list and rescinded his previous thought.

"Hmm." Fumiro tapped his chin thoughtfully. Personally, he was a real romance fan, though he'd never admit it to any of his peers. Some of his favorites were a tad too raunchy for someone of Sakura's delicate age, but some of the sappier (and in his opinion, better) novels were perfect for a romantic teenager. "Have you considered _Bonds across the Battlefield_?"

"Why does every book you recommend for me have an alliterated title?" Sakura muttered under her breath, watching as Fumiro fumbled around the back shelves, looking for the aforementioned book.

"Don't blame me, blame the author!" Fumiro insisted, placing the hefty book on his desk. "Now, I've really come to love this book. And the male lead is so _dreamy_. My boyfriend is always teasing me, saying that I love a book character more than I love him."

"You're a librarian," Sakura shrugged. "You probably do."

"Hey!" Fumiro exclaimed, feigning offense. "You take that back. I love my boyfriend very much, thank you."

"Are you sure he really exists? You've never told me his name."

"That's because Konoha is small and I don't want a pesky little genin bothering him."

"Yeah sure. Because he _definitely_ exists."

"Anyway," Fumiro sighed, changing the topic, "you've got a month with this book. Come and talk to me about it once you're done. I'm sure you'll love it."

"And before I leave, I need one more book." Sakura's tone was serious now. "I know that I've exhausted all the genin-available books on the Uchiha clan, but there's some information I need to find. I'm taking the chunin exams soon, so could just let me into the chunin section for five minutes?" Actually, Sakura was not sure if she'd be taking the chunin exams at all, given the changes that she made to the timeline. But she _needed_ this information if she was going to actually save the world.

Fumiro let out a sad sigh. "Look kid, I don't know what your fascination with the Uchiha is about, or why you really need information on them, but I want to warn you. Getting wrapped up with that clan is dangerous. I know there's only one boy left, but who knows what could happen to him or what he could do to you."

"Sasuke's on my team. I know him far better than you do," Sakura insisted. "I trust him, so that should be enough. And I need this information for his benefit. I'm just trying to help my team like any good shinobi."

Fumiro shook his head. "You know, when I was a little older than you are now, I was head-over-heels in love with Itachi Uchiha." Fumiro let his name ring out in the empty library for a few seconds before continuing his story. "His mom was a friend of my mom, though they weren't wildly close, given that my family was civilian. Still, I followed this boy around for years, professing my love for him at every turn and insisting that he wouldn't dishonor his family by dating me. Not that I knew anything about that, of course. He was a sweet boy, you know? He never really turned me down. He always replied with something along the lines of 'I'm so busy with training right now, maybe we can talk again after I get back from my mission'. And that would happen after every single mission he took until finally he told me that he 'didn't like people that way'. I understood that. And not even a year later, he killed his whole family."

Sakura sat unmoving at Fumiro's story. She didn't know anyone alive except for Kakashi who had such a close connection to Itachi Uchiha. Paired with her past knowledge, every account she received of the man made less and less sense. How could someone as sweet and gentle as Itachi become a mass murderer? That paired with Sasuke's incoherent claims of 'Konoha being responsible for Itachi's sacrifice' in the days before Sasuke died formed a convoluted web of truths.

"Now, I know you love the Uchiha teammate of yours," Fumiro continued. "And I bet you harbor some feelings for him as well. But be safe around him. He might turn out like his older brother. Now, you can look in the chunin section for exactly five minutes and no more. And if anyone hears about this, I could lose my job, so don't go telling any other genin."

"I won't, I promise," Sakura said solidly, hurrying off to the chunin section while Fumiro turned a blind eye.

* * *

Sakura took the roofs home, her bag weighed down by heavy books she had taken from the chunin section. Since she wasn't a registered chunin, she couldn't check out the texts she wanted to read, so Fumiro had to ignore literal theft. Sakura had seen these titles in her previous life, though she had never taken the time to read them, given that her real issues with the Uchiha started long after she would have been meandering about the chunin section of the library. Still, she couldn't sneak into the jonin section, so what she stole would have to do.

Sneaking in through the window of her bedroom, she placed her bag onto her bed before buckling down and reading. Her allight onto the carpeted floor was met with a blood-curdling scream from her mother, who was putting laundry away in Sakura's drawers.

"Sakura!" Her mother chastised, turning abruptly to face her daughter. "Can you please just use the door like a normal person?!"

"I'm sorry, mom!" Sakura assured, putting her hands in the air. "Since I was already taking the roofs, I figured that coming in through the window would be more efficient."

"You ninja and your absurd 'practicality'," Mebuki huffed, putting the last shirt in Sakura's drawer. "I swear, when you're at home, you need to act like a normal person. Don't become that eccentric sensei of yours."

Sakura chuckled at the mention of Kakashi's idiosyncrasies. "Okay mom, I promise I won't become like Kakashi-sensei."

"Now since you're such a big ninja now, jumping on roofs and all that, can you at least do your own laundry?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry mom," Sakura sighed, relieved that her mom hadn't asked about what books she got from the library.

Mebuki rested the empty laundry hamper on her hip and walked out of the room, leaving Sakura alone to read her books. The first memoir she wanted to scan was a recount in the form of journal entries of an old senju soldier. She had married an Uchiha man before the days of their deadly feud and she wrote a short recount of their relationship and its eventual descent into hatred. Sakura cracked open the aged book, running her finger down the yellowed pages. The writing was eloquent and archaic, evidence of an educated young woman.

The first few entries bordered on sappy; the soldier, Himiko, seemed to be head over heels in love with this branch-family Uchiha man, Daisuke. From Himiko's descriptions, Daisuke was not extremely strong or extremely bright, but he treated Himiko with love and admiration; Sakura could see the appeal.

One early entry stood out to Sakura. Himiko's comments on the Uchiha clan's system of succession and rule were quite degrading.

 _Instead of dining with my family, as I often do, I opted for a short walk by myself this morning,_ the memoir read. _As I entered the Uchiha compound, which remained orderly, quite unlike the bustling quality of Senju land, I encountered a young man selling wares. I decided to converse with him, as I was quite bored and I did not want to return home quite yet. He was called Daisuke. He spoke well, far better than I would expect of a simple merchant. His dress was proper too. I found that strange._

 _We spoke for longer than my mother would consider proper, and perhaps I indulged him with an excess of personal information. Regardless, I found that despite his lowly profession, he was a first cousin of the Uchiha heir. Perhaps I am partial to the system of the Senju family, and perhaps I am only partial to the Senju because it has favored me, but I found this particular aspect of the Uchiha system absurd. How could one tied so closely to the main family work as a merchant? I learned that the only members of the Uchiha clan with privileged occupations were those of the main family. Everyone else was left with far less honorable professions. Though they could fight for the clan, they could never advance in the ranks._

 _I will be visiting Daisuke's stand again. I have taken an interest in the man._

Sakura read over the entry closely, noting how little the Uchiha clan had changed over the centuries. So much pressure was put on the main family; everything was left to the heirs. Perhaps Itachi cracked under the pressure.

Sakura decided that part of her mission would be understanding Itachi's fall; with that, she could find a way to save Sasuke and even a way to bring Itachi back to the village. Yes, Sakura knew that he was a murderer, but the details of the event did not sit well with her. Before that night, Itachi was known as a fierce pacifist; how could so much change in a matter of days? Sakura needed to find out and her best sources lay in Kakashi and Fumiro.

Shaking her head, Sakura turned to the end of the memoir, deciding to read some of the final entries. Himiko had lost the composure she held in the first entry. She no longer wrote in a clinical matter, recounting each moment exactly as she experienced it. The last few entries were hysterical, and though Daisuke hadn't died, Himiko seemed to be in mourning.

 _It's the eyes!_ Himiko seemed to cry. _Daisuke will not tell me what happened that day, that loathed day, the day I first saw those eyes. I never knew Daisuke to be cruel. I did not fall in love with a cruel man. He struck me for the first time yesterday. I am stronger than him. I have bested him in combat many times. I am the soldier out of the two of us._

 _I didn't see his fist coming. And when I looked to see his face, his eyes were blood red with something spinning in them. I know of the sharingan and I've seen the three tomoe before, but this was different. Daisuke's face was contorted in rage; for the first time since I've known this sweet, sentimental man, I was afraid of him._

 _I now fear Daisuke's rage. I fear his fist. Because though I know that I could defeat him in combat, I could never harm him. Still, it seems that he doesn't hold the same sentiment._

 _My days are now uncertain, all because of Daisuke's god forsaken eyes. I don't know what happened on that day, but I will find out. I yearn for the sweet man I once knew._

Sakura was about to tear through the next entry in search for the details of the day Himiko spoke of, but she was interrupted by the telltale spike of Naruto's chakra at the door. Hastily, she hid the book under her bed along with the other ones she took from the library.

"Naruto!" She exclaimed cheerfully, opening the door for him. "What are you here for?"

"Kakashi-sensei sent me," he replied, grabbing Sakura's hand. "He wants the team to meet up. He's got something to tell us, apparently."

Sakura had a strong suspicion about the topic of the meeting. She could only hope, though, that Kakashi had managed to dig enough enough incriminating evidence against Otogakure.

* * *

Kakashi greeted the genin from his seat on a low tree branch. He didn't look too worried, in fact, his eye was closed in a form of a smile.

"Now," he started, digging through his satchel and pulling out several sheets of paper, "as much as I love teasing you for being helpless little genin, I know that it can't last forever. I'm not totally sure if you're ready for these chunin exams. In fact, I'm pretty sure you won't pass, but I think it will be a good learning experience for all of you. So here, sign these papers and turn them in by next week. Good luck, but don't expect much!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Kakashi as he grabbed the papers. "Which genin are stronger than us?" He challenged. "We could beat everyone in our graduating class, and I don't think the other genin in the village are much better."

Kakashi chuckled, looking at Sasuke with a patronizing gaze. "You think rather highly of yourself, don't you? Well, to be honest, I don't know if you could beat all of the genin in your graduating class, Sasuke. You may have won the fancy little moniker of 'top rookie', but as you've probably observed from your teammates, standings in the academy mean nothing."

"That's why I said _we_." Sasuke retorted. "Team seven could defeat the other genin, no problem."

Kakashi's face spread into a smile. "Look at that," he cooed. "Sasuke's becoming a real team player. I'm impressed. Still, I don't think you're going to pass. There are strong genin in every village, and they all have their own 'team seven'. Who knows how you compare to them?"

Sasuke did not take well to Kakashi's condescending attitude. He shot Kakashi one last glare before turning to his teammates. "Well, are you guys ready to turn in the forms?"

"I don't know Sasuke…" Sakura said hesitantly. "We're fresh out of the academy, you know. And though you and Naruto possess pretty impressive skills. I don't want to hold you guys back."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Even you know that you're not the weak link. Don't use that as an excuse for cowardice."

Sakura's eyes widened at Sasuke's response. "I'm sorry for that, but I'm still worried. You must have heard the stories about the chunin exams. People die in them, Sasuke."

"And people survive and become chunin as well." Sasuke shrugged off Sakura's plead. "If Kakashi could pass when he was only six years old and if my brother–" Sasuke clenched his jaw, "if Itachi was promoted when he was ten, we can definitely do it now."

Sakura knew that as soon as Sasuke brought Itachi into the conversation, backing out was not an option. Sasuke was hell-bent on becoming a chunin; he yearned for a way to prove his worth to his family, even if they weren't physically there to accept him. Sasuke knew what his father would have wanted.

"Alright," Sakura agreed, she placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, yet he didn't flinch away. "Pass me a pen then."

 **A/N:** **Whoop, I'm back from the dead! Sophomore year has been kicking my ass, so the only time I've really had to write was over thanksgiving break (thus the chapter).**

 **I hope you guys have enjoyed some of the OCs that will be playing minor (but influential) parts throughout the story. I really love Fumiro, okay? I've only outlined him a bit, but I already know he's going to be super soft. Also Himiko is a badass (more of that coming later).**

 **I really hope no one was too surprised by ace!Itachi. I've always head-cannoned him as asexual, and I personally think that it works well for my characterization of him. Also, in my Naruto AU, homophobia doesn't exist. It just isn't a thing. I think that ninja have bigger problems to deal with than who does who.**

 **Finally, I received quite a few comments about how Sasuke didn't struggle enough with medical ninjutsu in the previous chapter and I totally agree with the criticism. I'm considering either rewriting that chapter or throwing a BIG wrench in Sasuke's medical career a little further down the line. Regardless, I've moved some of the medic!Sasuke chapters a little further down in**

 **Whew, rant done! Please read, comment, vote, and enjoy! I appreciate it so much!**


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